An Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan, Nigeria,...

An Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan, Nigeria, sentenced Rasheed Olaiya, 38, to death by hanging after convicting him of killing a five-month old baby. Olaiya, a father of eight children, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death for causing the death of Ramoni, his nephew, as a result of the hatred he had for Ramoni's father. According to the charge, Olaiya threw Ramoni on the floor following a fight with the victim's father on November 8, 2001 at a house on Liberty rd, Ibadan. "The evidence against the accused person is overwhelming. In the circumstance, I find the accused person guilty as charged and I convict him accordingly", he said. "The sentence of the court is that you be hanged by the neck until you be dead, and may the Lord have mercy on your soul", the presiding judge announced. Immediately following the judge's sentence, there was jubilation by the family and relatives of the accused, who described Olaya as an "unrepentant evil doer and a black sheep of the family". But the convict, who did not understand the import of the judgment got out of the dock and asked a relation what the judge had said. The relation refused to tell him before he was led away by the Police.