An Anambra High Court, presided over by Justice Lauretta Oyeka, has sentenced a commercial tricycle rider, Makuachukwu Ezike, to death by hanging after finding him guilty of murdering one Jude Onwuegbuchunam, an indigene of Umuoji in Idemili North Local Government Area of the state.
It was gathered that on 17th November 2019, along the Oba-Obosi-Nkpor-Umuoji Road, Ezike and his two gang members, who are still at large, while posing as a commercial tricycle rider and passengers, picked up an unsuspecting Onwuegbuchunam and, midway into his journey, attempted to rob him of his phone and other valuables.
When Onwuegbuchunam resisted and raised the alarm, Ezike and his gang members pushed him out of the tricycle, which was moving at high speed near Abidi Hall, Umuoji, where Umuoji Vigilante operatives were stationed.
The vigilante operatives, it was also gathered, gave the “one-chance” robbery syndicate a chase, leading to Ezike abandoning the tricycle and fleeing with the others, only to return the next day to the scene where he had abandoned the tricycle, and was subsequently arrested by the vigilante operatives, who later handed him over to the police, where he confessed to the crime. Onwuegbuchunam, who sustained fatal injuries, died two days later.
The prosecution called five witnesses, including the medical doctor who conducted the post-mortem examination on Onwuegbuchunam and confirmed that his death resulted directly from the injuries he sustained in the fall. Though the defence argued that there was no eyewitness, Justice Oyeka held that the law recognizes three pathways to conviction: direct eyewitness evidence, confessional statements and circumstantial evidence.
He noted that, in this case, the circumstantial evidence was overwhelming, ranging from the abandoned tricycle to Ezike’s flight from the scene, his voluntary confession and the medical evidence linking the victim’s injuries and death to his actions. The court therefore convicted Ezike of murder and ordered that he be put to death by hanging.
