Ogun Attorney General, Oluwasina Ogungbade, has clarified that Ogbonna Ogbojionu, an Abia State indigene recently released after 22 years in prison, was convicted for armed robbery and not for buying a stolen generator, as widely circulated on social media.

Also read: Man freed after decades over generator theft in shocking case

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Ogungbade said Ogbonna, along with accomplices, robbed an ELF petrol station on the Abeokuta-Lagos Road on October 3, 2000, during which a security guard was killed.

Ogbonna became the focus of public sympathy after multiple online reports claimed he was wrongly sentenced to death for unknowingly buying a stolen generator.

His eventual release, reportedly facilitated by Abia State Governor Alex Otti, was celebrated as a victory against injustice in the Nigerian justice system.

However, the Attorney General rejected the viral narrative, calling it a distortion of the facts and a disservice to the victims.

“In truth, Ogbonna was lawfully and rightly convicted. He did not merely buy a stolen generator. He participated in an armed robbery that resulted in the death of a man,” Ogungbade said.

He narrated how, around 10pm on the day of the crime, Ogbonna and other gang members attacked the filling station, overpowered two guards, and stole a 10 KVA Lister generator.

The robbers allegedly struck one guard, Moses Bankole, fatally, while the second guard, Yusuf Akanni, sustained serious injuries and later testified for the prosecution.

Ogbonna, a trained generator technician, was identified as the person who dismantled the generator during the operation.

Days later, the stolen generator was discovered hidden in a vehicle loaded with firewood and bags of sachet water.

When the police attempted to question the occupants, two suspects fled, leaving Ogbonna behind.

The AG stated that Ogbonna initially escaped from police custody by breaking through the cell’s ceiling, but was later rearrested after investigations led to the identification of his accomplices.

One of them, Sunday Oloyede, directed police to Ogbonna, who had already sold the stolen generator to a buyer named Ali Rihan. Rihan returned the generator to the police and testified as a witness.

Ogungbade also said Ogbonna confessed during trial, failed to call any witnesses, and offered no evidence to counter the charges.

The court, he said, was left with no choice but to convict and sentence him to death in 2003.

“In 2021, Governor Dapo Abiodun exercised the prerogative of mercy by commuting his sentence to life imprisonment,” Ogungbade noted.

He criticised the public campaign to recast Ogbonna as a victim, calling it a “fresh injustice” to the actual victims of the crime.

“Ogbonna’s actions crippled a business, traumatised a witness, and led to the death of an innocent man, Moses Bankole. Those lionising him should remember the real victim,” he said.

Ogungbade concluded by advising Ogbonna to quietly embrace his freedom and rebuild his life honestly.