Bus driver jailed for 12 years for killing LASTMA officer

Justice Oyindamola Ogala of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja, on Thursday sentenced a commercial bus driver, Elijah Shokoya, to 12 years in prison for killing an officer of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA), Olawale Akinmade.

Akinmade died on January 27, 2021.

The Lagos State Government charged the convict with running over Akinmade while driving a blue-black Opel space bus with number plate AAA 74 GG on that fateful day.

The prosecutor told the court that the convict committed the offence at the Demurin Road junction in Mile 12 in Lagos.

He was arraigned on June 23, 2021, and pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge.

According to the prosecutor, the offence violated Section 224 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The judge sentenced the driver after he ruled that prosecutors had proven beyond a reasonable doubt the charge of involuntary manslaughter against him.

He also stated that the convict’s actions which ultimately resulted in the victim’s death were with the knowledge that serious physical injury or loss was a possible consequence.

The judge said: “The legal position is well established, namely that the burden of proof in a criminal case rests with the prosecutor and the standard of proof has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

“With regard to the death of Akinmade Samson Olawale, there appears to be no dispute regarding the death of the deceased.

“The first prosecution witness, Aderonke Malik, testified that he saw the accused push the victim to the front of his vehicle.

“His testimony was that he ran there and asked the accused to stop his car, but he did not, and the deceased kept hitting the hood of his car to stop.

“He testified that the defendant did not stop until he knocked the victim down.

“Also, in this case, it is essential that the Investigating Police Officer provides direct evidence of what he saw, heard and investigated.

“Therefore, the court concludes that the evidence presented by the defense in this case cannot be faulted.

“The level of evidence that reaches reasonable doubt does not necessarily reach certainty but contains a high level of probability.

“Once the elements of the crime charged against the defendant are proven, then it is evidence that cannot be denied and in order for the defendant to be entitled to the benefit of the doubt, the doubt must be a genuine and reasonable doubt that arises from several pieces of evidence before the court.

“Therefore, this honorable court finds the defendant guilty of one count of involuntary manslaughter and is accordingly sentenced.

“I hereby sentence the defendant to 12 years imprisonment from the date of the verdict.”

Bus driver jailed for 12 years for killing LASTMA officer first appeared on Latest Nigeria News | Headlines from Ripples Nigeria.