The Ogun State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwasina Ogungbade, has clarified that Ogbonna Ogbojionu, a recently freed inmate from Abia State, was convicted for armed robbery and murder—not for purchasing a stolen generator, as widely speculated on social media.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Ogungbade explained that Ogbonna was among a gang of robbers who attacked an ELF petrol station on October 3, 2000, killing a guard and stealing a 10 KVA Lister generator. Contrary to viral reports claiming Ogbonna was wrongly sentenced to death for unknowingly buying a stolen item, the Attorney General said the facts of the case show otherwise.
The incident, according to Ogungbade, involved a brutal assault on two security guards at the station.
One guard, Moses Bankole, was fatally beaten, while the other, Yusuf Akanni, survived and later testified in court. Ogbonna, a generator technician, was identified as the person who unmounted the generator during the robbery.
He added that days after the attack, police intercepted a vehicle concealing the stolen generator.
Ogbonna was one of the occupants but reportedly escaped from police custody. Investigations eventually led to his rearrest, along with other suspects.
The stolen generator was recovered from a buyer, Ali Rihan, who testified against Ogbonna during the trial.
Ogungbade further revealed that Ogbonna confessed to the crime and did not call any witnesses in his defense.
He was convicted on January 14, 2003, and originally sentenced to death. In 2021, Governor Dapo Abiodun commuted the sentence to life imprisonment under the prerogative of mercy.
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“There is no evidence Ogbonna ever bought the generator.
He issued a receipt when he sold it to someone else, which suggests he knew its origin,” Ogungbade stated. “If his confession was coerced, why didn’t he challenge it during trial?”
The Attorney General urged Nigerians to focus on the facts and remember the victims, particularly Moses Bankole, who lost his life during the robbery.
“Ogbonna’s actions caused loss, terror, and death. While he may have regained his freedom, it’s misleading and unjust to portray him as a victim,” Ogungbade concluded.
