Court Convicts Six For Electoral Offences, Firearms Possession In Osun
An Osun State High Court sitting in Osogbo has convicted and sentenced six men to two years in prison for electoral offences and unlawful possession of firearms during the 2023 general elections.
The convicts, Yinusa Rahmon, Moshood Hamzat, Awotunde Gbenga, Adebayo Mutiu, Femi Taiwo, and Najeem Omotuntun, were arrested on March 18, 2023, during the House of Assembly election in Ila Orangun, Osun State.
They were apprehended by operatives of the Department of State Services at a hotel and found in possession of arms and dangerous weapons.
Prosecutors representing the federal government arraigned the defendants on a three-count charge of conspiracy to possess firearms, unlawful possession of firearms, and conduct likely to cause a breach of peace.
According to the police, the offences are punishable under Sections 121, 125(1)(i), and 126(1)(f) of the Electoral Act, 2022.
Delivering judgment, Justice M. Awe held that the prosecution successfully proved the first two counts but failed to establish the third. The court acquitted all six men on the charge of conduct likely to cause a breach of peace.
According to the certified true copy of the judgment dated July 11, 2025, the judge ruled that each defendant be sentenced to one year in prison or a ₦100,000 fine for conspiracy and two years’ imprisonment or a ₦200,000 fine for unlawful possession of firearms.
The jail terms are to run concurrently, but the fines are cumulative.
The weapons recovered included two locally made barrel guns, six cartridges, two cutlasses, a battle axe, and a Fulani sword, items the court described as consistent with the charges brought against the defendants.
Justice Awe concluded that while the defendants denied wrongdoing, the weight of evidence, including their arrest during an election and possession of weapons, justified their conviction on the proven counts.
Court Convicts Six For Electoral Offences, Firearms Possession In Osun is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
