Two men, including UK-based Nigerian Lekan Akinsoji, have been sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2017 gang-related murder of Ahmed Deen-Jah in East London.
A UK court has sentenced Nigerian-born Lekan Akinsoji and his accomplice, Sundjata Keita, to life imprisonment for the 2017 murder of Ahmed Deen-Jah in East London.
The pair, both 27, were convicted on October 9 and sentenced Friday at the Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales.
According to UK police, “Lekan Akinsoji, 27, of no fixed address, and Sundjata Keita, 27, of St Margaret’s Court, E12, appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday, 24 October. They both received life sentences.” Akinsoji will serve a minimum of 28 years, while Keita received a minimum of 22 years.
Detective Superintendent Kelly Allen, who led the investigation, said the sentencing “provides some measure of closure to Ahmed’s family, who have waited almost a decade for justice.”
Deen-Jah was stabbed on April 2, 2017, in an unprovoked gang-related attack inside a convenience store near Custom House station.
The suspects were initially released for lack of evidence but were re-arrested in 2023 after forensic and phone data linked them to the crime scene.
CCTV footage played in court showed Akinsoji ambushing and fatally stabbing the victim during the attack.