The Effurun High Court I, in Uvwie local government area of Delta State has convicted and sentenced two men, Emmanuel Ruekpe and Peter Okoro to death by hanging on two count charges of conspiracy and armed robbery. Justice E. I. Oritsejafor delivered the judgement.
The two defendants according to the nominal, complainant, Mr Ode Odera Gabriel, boarded his bike on the 24th of September, 2016 at Otu-Jeremi junction that they were going to Owhawa town of which he charged them the sum of N400 and they agreed to pay.
According to him, in the course of the journey, the 2nd defendant after he came from a compound at Oghoir in Udu local government area where he claimed to see his elder brother, stopped the bike man claiming that his face cap fell down and wanted to pick it before he broke coca cola bottle and, in a bid, to avoid being stabbed, the nominal complainant ran away.
The normal complainant (bikeman) recognised the first defendant whom he knew as a local dancer and he subsequently reported the matter to the Oghoir vigilante chairman which eventually led to the arrest of both of them and taken to the Ovwian Police Station.
Delivering his judgement after careful examination of available evidence, Justice Oritsejafor noted that the prosecution presented overwhelming evidence which he said, was sufficient to discharge the burden of proof on the case.
Reacting to the judgement, the prosecution, Mr Ezeana Ejiofor who is a deputy director in the state Ministry of Justice, said that the defendants were charged to court on two count charges bothering on conspiracy to commit armed robbery, punishable under section 1(2) (a) of the Robbery and Firearms (special provision) Act, cap R.II, volume 14 law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He expressed satisfaction with the judgement and appealed to judicial authorities in the country to consider the abolition of the death sentence and replace it with alternative life imprisonment.
Ejiofor advised young people to shun anything illegal and be patient and work hard to achieve success and never to get involved in any form of crime that could possibly cut short their life and take their freedom, dreams and aspirations away from them.
Ejiofor appealed to the government to recognize the honour, dignity and straightforward disposition of the father of the second defendant who on his own admitted to the authorities that he saw his son with a bike which fits the description of the stolen motorbike and subsequently took his son to the police station.
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