Human right group and pro democracy organisation, Committee for Democracy and Rights of the People ,CDRP, has demanded intervention of Gov. Olusegun Mimiko in what it described as “miscarriage of justice” following “unjust conviction of a widom” and alleged non release of judgement by a magistrate in the state.
In the letter signed by Saka Waheed, the general secretary of the organisation copies of which were distributed to newsmen in Osogbo, Osun state capital, the CDRP said Magistrate Oluwabukola Kuye unjustly sentenced Mrs. Oyelade Olasunkanmi to 2 years imprisonment without convincing proof that she committed the offence.
According to the letter, Magistrate Aluko also withheld the judgement allegedly to frustrate appeal of the judgement, saying since the judgement was passed, appeal could not be entered and as such, the woman has been languishing in prison.
Giving the details of the case, the CDRP explained “The board of CDRP is seeking your intervention on the erroneous sentence of Mrs Oyelade Olasunkanmi to 2years imprisonment for Conspiracy and forgery, as the fact has shown that no evidence was adduced to prove the charges against the 65yrs old grandmother.
“Sir, our findings revealed that the person whose handwriting was allegedly forged whose evidence is essential to the determination of the case was neither called nor the counsel who prepared the document was equally not invited to support their allegation or otherwise. The plaintiffs also failed to produce their own copy of the controversial document.
“Moreover, the evidence of the defendant signature or handwriting document was never demanded by the court to compare her handwriting with the alleged forged document in order to come to a conclusion. But against all legal sense, the judge handed over a sentence of 2years to Mrs Olasunkanmi!
“Excellency sir, the sentence was a fundamental contradiction to the “no case submission” ruling by His Worship Oluwabukola C. Kuye on 31st October 2013, whereby Her worship stated inter alia:
“In the instant case, there is nothing linking the accused person to the offence of Forgery and it is crystal clear on the face of Exhibit A (Agreement of Sale of Land) that the accused person was not a party to the transaction between the PW1’s late mother and the Late Olasunkanmi, the accused late husband. That the document was brought from her custody is not tenable enough to conclude that she altered it …”
Her Lorship continues:
“ … The prosecution also failed to compare Exhibit A (that is, the altered Agreement) with another copy of the agreement (the unaltered copy) to prove if it was actually altered or not. It would have been a different game if the prosecution had tendered another copy of agreement for comparism”
“Sir, despite no new evidence tendered by the plantiff after the High Court rule for retrial, Magistrate Oluwabukola C. Kuye sentence Mrs Olasunkanmi to 2years Imprisonment, even as the helpless widow was neither a signatory nor a witness to the agreement on the disputed land agreement, her only connection to the case is that she is in custody of her late husband land document!
“The sentence was illogical and faulty from the word go, it is inhumanly faulty and completely bereft of any judicial merit and we are concerned that the sentence amount to nothing but extreme judicial rascality and a clear case of building something on nothing by the magistrate.
“As if the sentencing on Friday, 21st October 2016 was not bad enough, Magistrate Oluwabukola Kuye refusal to release the detail of the ruling to aid the appeal of Mrs Olasunkanmi till today is the highest form of judicial evil from a judge. By withholding the ruling, the magistrate has denigrated and violated the cause of justice and fairness by deliberately restricting the right of appeal.
“Indeed, the erroneous ruling neither provides final legal determination on the disputed land nor final settlement on the issue, thereby creating more tension than healing old wound. The sentence is unwarranted, biased, defective, incompetent and a total disregard for the weight of evidence.
“Excellency sir, the error was committed by law, the appeal is restricted by withholding the certified true copy of the ruling, and the only legal means available to free an innocent widow from imprisonment is your intervention as the Governor of Ondo State with the power of prerogative of mercy.”
The group subsequently appealed to Gov. Mimiko and all well meaning Nigerians to intervene, urging the governor to constitute a prerogative of mercy committee that will look into the case of the 65yrs old widow who is currently languishing in Ondo prison for an offence she neither committed nor a party to the alleged forgery.
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