An Osun State High Court has sentenced two men, Toriola Abel and Adeola Adebowale, to death by hanging for armed robbery, while a Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered Faisal Maina, son of former pension reform boss Abdulrasheed Maina, to serve a seven-year prison sentence for money laundering.

The two separate court decisions were delivered in Osogbo and Abuja amid renewed attention to the prosecution of serious criminal offences and the enforcement of judicial sentences in Nigeria.

In Osogbo, Justice Yinka Aderibigbe of the Osun State High Court sentenced Abel and Adebowale to death by hanging after finding them guilty of conspiracy and armed robbery.

The offences were committed in 2014 around the Kelebe area of Osogbo, the state capital.

The judge, in his ruling on Thursday, held that the prosecution had established the allegations against the defendants beyond reasonable doubt.

The prosecution, led by Wuraola Mosunmola, told the court that the convicts conspired with another accomplice, who remains at large, to carry out the robbery.

During the trial, the prosecution presented witnesses and tendered exhibits, including a locally made firearm, which was admitted as evidence.

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However, counsel to the defendants, Ifedayo Olowoyo, appealed to the court for leniency, arguing that his clients were first-time offenders who had spent approximately 12 years in custody since their arrest.

He also told the court that the defendants had demonstrated signs of rehabilitation and deserved an opportunity to rebuild their lives.

Olowoyo particularly disclosed that one of the convicts was a 300-level student of the National Open University of Nigeria, pursuing his university education through correspondence while in detention.

Despite the plea for mercy, Justice Aderibigbe maintained that the applicable law prescribed the death penalty for armed robbery.

The judge consequently sentenced both men to death by hanging.

However, the court recommended that the Osun State Governor consider exercising the prerogative of mercy, noting that no life was lost during the robbery and taking into account the defendants’ conduct during their prolonged detention.

In a separate development in Abuja, Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court ordered that Faisal Maina be committed to a correctional centre to serve his prison sentence for money laundering and failure to make full disclosure of his assets.

The order followed an ex parte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), seeking a warrant to enforce the conviction and sentence previously imposed on him.

Faisal, son of Abdulrasheed Maina, former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, was arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) on October 14, 2026, in the Karsana area of Abuja.

His arrest came about six years after he jumped bail and stopped attending court proceedings during his trial.

The EFCC subsequently took him into custody and approached the Federal High Court to secure an order committing him to the Nigeria Correctional Service to serve his outstanding prison term.

Granting the application, Justice Omotosho directed that Faisal serve three years’ imprisonment on count one, seven years on count two and three years on count three.

The judge ordered that the sentences run concurrently, meaning the seven-year term will determine the overall period of imprisonment.

The sentence is to take effect from October 14, 2026, the date of his rearrest.

Faisal was initially arraigned in 2019 on a three-count charge bordering on money laundering and failure to fully disclose his assets in an asset declaration form.

He pleaded not guilty before Justice Okon Abang but subsequently jumped bail, forcing the court to continue the trial in his absence.

On October 7, 2021, Justice Abang convicted him and imposed five years’ imprisonment on counts one and three, and 14 years on count two, with the sentences running concurrently.

The trial judge also ordered his arrest wherever he might be found and directed that he be taken to a correctional centre to serve his sentence.

Faisal challenged the conviction and sentences at the Court of Appeal, which upheld the conviction but reduced the prison terms in its judgment delivered on November 24, 2022.

The appellate court reduced the sentences to three years on counts one and three and seven years on count two.

His father, Abdulrasheed Maina, was also convicted in a separate money laundering case involving approximately ₦2 billion in pension funds. He has since completed his prison sentence.