An Ogun State High Court sitting in Abeokuta has sentenced two men, Mustakeem Balogun and Soliudeen Majekodunmi, to death by hanging for the brutal murder of 16-year-old Sofia Okeowo, while a third accomplice, Lukmon Abdulgafar, was handed a life sentence.
Delivering the judgment on Friday, Justice Olugboyega Ogunfowora found the three men guilty of the heinous crime, which occurred on January 28, 2022, in the Kugba area of Abeokuta.
According to a statement by the Ogun State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Oluwasina Ogungbade, the incident began when Sofia visited her boyfriend, Mustakeem Balogun.
After engaging in sexual activity with her, Mustakeem, with the help of Soliudeen, strangled and beheaded her.
The perpetrators then mutilated Sofia’s body, cutting flesh from her thighs and stuffing her remains into a sack.
They took her severed head to Lukmon’s residence, where it was set ablaze using a local burner in a suspected ritual act.
A viral video from January 2022 showed the three men being apprehended by community guards while burning the victim’s head and chanting incantations over her corpse.
The attorney general emphasized that the state government remains committed to justice and will not allow criminal activities like ritual killings to flourish.
“This conviction should serve as a clear warning to anyone planning to engage in such horrific acts,” Ogungbade stated.