The robbers were in chains as they walked to the stakes , Mr Babatunde Folorunsho popularly known as ‘Baba oni lace‘ was dressed in lace . Mr Joseph Ilobo didn’t accept fate easily unlike Folorunsho, he protested till his last moment.
At a point execution, Joseph Ilobo looked at the crowd and said, “are all these people here to see me die? Ah! This is a wicked world. I have not committed any crime.” Mr Williams Alders Oyazimo was a sub-lieutenant in the Nigerian Navy. He protested his innocence in tears. He said, “if you search your conscience, you will know that a naval officer of my status will never go in the dead of the night to steal. I’ll die today, innocent of the crime for which I am condemned.”
Military chaplain, Col. Pedro Martins approached the robbers and asked them to pray for forgiveness but he said, “Father, I am innocent. My blood will cleanse my family and my children will prosper.” Oyazimo’s last words touched Nigerians. It was such a pathetic moment.
According to a source, Mr Williams Alders Oyazimo could have been truly innocent. His execution was likely a result of personal feud with some officers of higher ranks. He and Joseph Ilobo were accused of robbing One Alhaja Taibatu Opene of a loud speaker and record player worth N320. They both pleaded not guilty but were sentenced to death anyway.
However, the words of Oyazimo did not make the executors change their minds. A loud voice let out the command. Joseph Ilobo screamed “Make una go call that Alhaja, make she come see we die”. Then rain of bullets fell on the condemned trio’s bodies. Their lifeless bodies were inspected, untied and then taken away for burial.
The whole of Nigeria celebrated the end of Babatunde Folorunsho aka Baba oni lace but only to welcome more of his kind.