The Ogun State Government has warned Ogbonna Ogbojionu, a recently released prisoner, to stop spreading false stories about his conviction and to lead a quiet life if he is truly reformed.
The government warned Ogbojionu to stop rewriting the facts of his case and instead live quietly.
“If Ogbonna is truly reformed, he should silently and gratefully enjoy his freedom and pursue honest pursuits. Presently, his honesty is highly doubtful, and the world is hereby notified,” Oluwasina Ogungbade, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, said.
Ogbojionu, now in his late 40s, was 22 years old when he was arrested in 1999. According to his account, he purchased a generator from a man named Segun Ajibade, believing it to be genuine. He later sold it. Two weeks after the sale, Ajibade returned with the police, claiming that the generator had been stolen. Both men were arrested on the spot.
Ogbojionu said that after that, he was allegedly beaten in custody and forced to sign a confession he could not read. He was remanded to prison that same year.
In 2003, at age 26, he was sentenced to death by a High Court in Ogun State and spent 26 years behind bars—most of it on death row at Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison in Lagos.
His story went viral after his release in June 2025, following a pardon on Democracy Day by Governor Dapo Abiodun.
But the Ogun State Government said in a statement on Wednesday that Ogbonna was properly convicted for his involvement in an armed robbery that resulted in the death of a security guard, Moses Bankole.
The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ogungbade, also said Ogbojionu was not wrongly jailed, as some social media posts claim. Instead, he was found guilty of armed robbery and murder in 2003.
According to Ogungbade, Ogbojionu was convicted for his role in an armed robbery at an ELF petrol station, where a 10 KVA generator was stolen and a security guard was killed.
Ogungbade added that the prosecution presented 11 witnesses, and Ogbojionu made two confessional statements without objection, choosing not to call any witnesses or present evidence in his defence.
Ogungbade also defended the decision to release Ajibade in 2016, saying the government took into account Ajibade’s genuine remorse for his crimes and his gratitude for his freedom.
He then criticised Ogbonna’s post-release behaviour, claiming that the public is portraying him as a victim and that it demonstrates why the ex-convict was not considered for release when his fellow ex-convict, Ajibade, was.
Ogungbade said, “If, as the viral reports now claim, Segun Ajibade has truly led a quiet life since his release, it likely suggests genuine remorse for his crimes and his gratitude for his freedom.
“This is the exact opposite of Ogbonna’s intransigence today and could explain why Ogbonna was not considered for release when Segun was.
“Ogbonna’s crime hobbled a business, terrorised Akanni Yusuf, and killed Moses Bankole.
“These victims or their relations remain today, and attempts to sanitise Ogbonna’s conduct with falsehoods do fresh injustice to the victims.
“Those who, in a misguided quest for justice, are recreating Ogbonna as a victim will do well to remember Moses Bankole – the true and irredeemable victim of Ogbonna’s crime.
“If Ogbonna is truly reformed, he should silently and gratefully enjoy his freedom and pursue honest pursuits. Presently, his honesty is highly doubtful, and the world is hereby notified.”
