Nigerian man, accomplice sentenced to life imprisonment for mᴜrder in the UK
A Nigerian man, Lekan Akinsoji, has been sentenced to life imprisonment in the United Kingdom for the mᴜrder of 24-year-old Ahmed Deen-Jah in East London.
Akinsoji, 27, a drill rapper, and his accomplice, Sundjata Keita, also 27, of Cruikshank Road, E15, were handed life sentences by the Old Bailey on Friday, October 24, 2025, after being found guilty of mᴜrder earlier this month.
According to the Metropolitan Police, DNA evidence linked the duo to the 2017 incident. Akinsoji will serve a minimum of 28 years, while Keita will serve at least 22 years before being eligible for parole.
The investigation began on April 2, 2017, after Ahmed was stabbed to death during an unprovoked attack inside a convenience store near Custom House Station in Newham.
Detective Superintendent Kelly Allen, who led the investigation, said: “I hope the long sentences provide some measure of closure to Ahmed’s family, who have waited almost a decade for justice.
“Akinsoji and Keita launched a cold-blooded and unprovoked attack. Worse still, they then sought to evade the law – and were able to do so until 2023, when damning forensic evidence came to light.”
On the day of the murder, CCTV showed Ahmed entering the store on Freemasons Road, Newham, at around 15:20hrs, where he bought a cigarette lighter.
He was seen to return to the shop around 30 seconds later, being followed by a man wearing a balaclava. The man chased Ahmed around the shop, before stabbing him and running away. Ahmed was sadly pronounced d3ad at the scene.
Akinsoji and Keita were originally arrested as part of the investigation, within eight days. They were released under investigation as officers continued complex enquiries.
In 2023, an investigation review was carried out which included detailed phone analysis, placing Keita’s phone inside the car used for the m8rder. The car had travelled to Epping Forest following the murder, where it was later found on fire.
An evidence package – including forensic results from a knife sheath found close to the scene and DNA findings from the victim’s hand – was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service. This had shown a match for the two men’s DNA.
Following this breakthrough, the men were rearrested on Friday, 25 October, 2024, and subsequently charged with m8rder.
A trial for the two men began on Monday, 8 September. The court heard how Ahmed’s murder was a result of “tit for tat” violence between gangs, and that both men had been driving around the area in a stolen car, looking for people they suspected being in a rival gang.
CCTV played in court showed Akinsoji ambushing Ahmed and following him into the shop, before st@bbing him.
Following the conviction, Ahmed’s father said he was “overwhelmed with relief” for his mental health and thanked police for working hard to bring the killers to justice.
