Man released after 11 years in prison waiting on death row

Firstclass Newsline gathered a man, Mr. Ganiyu Wahab, who has been on
death row for 11 years, finally regained freedom as he was discharged
and acquitted by a Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos.
Wahab was arrested on January 23, 2005 on the allegation of murder and
subsequently convicted and sentenced to death on July 2, 2007 in a
judgement delivered by Justice Oluwayemi of Lagos High Court.
The case against Wahab at the High Court was that he murdered one
Kolawole Alaran on January 23, 2005 by stabbing him with a bottle.
It was alleged that the murder took place at the Agboyi area of Lagos
State. At the end of the trial, the lower court found him guilty and
sentenced him to death.
Following the appeal against his conviction and sentence by the Legal
Defence and Assistance Project, LEDAP, a panel of justices presided
over by Justice Abimbola Obaseki- Adejumo of the Court of Appeal,
Lagos Division, on July 13, 2016, unanimously allowed the appeal of
the appellant and set aside his conviction and death sentence.
The court, in considering the appeal, resolved all issues raised in
favour of appellant.
In its decision, the court found that the conviction of the appellant
on the evidence of the first prosecution witness, who was the only
eyewitness called, and the confessional statement of the appellant
were erroneous as both evidences contained different facts.
The court further held that the prosecution failed to prove its case
beyond reasonable doubt.