A soldier of the 6 Battalion, Nigerian Army in Ibagwa, Abak local government area of Akwa Ibom State dismissed from service for murder and armed robbery about four years,Corporal Stephen Iweh, has been sentenced to death by hanging.
The State High Court in Uyo presided over by Justice Bassey Nkanang, handed down the sentence after prosecutors proved that the convict killed a 42-year-old man, Christopher Enobong Jimmy, who offered him a lift from Onne in Rivers State to Uyo.
Our correspondent gathered that while on their way, the convict, who was still in service and armed in military camouflage, overpowered the deceased, shot him to death and fled with the car.
The particulars of the case noted that the incident occurred on May 23, 2021 along the Ikot Abasi LGA portion of the East-West Road.
The late Jimmy, who was the manager of a clearing and forwarding company in Port Harcourt, had offered Corporal Iweh a lift in his car from Trailer Park in Onne, Rivers State, to Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom.
Investigations revealed that Corporal Iweh, a father of three children, had illegally kept the AK-47 rifle which he recalled he picked at Dambou, Borno State in 2018, and decided to keep it as his personal arms.
On the day of the killing, Corporal Iweh was supposed to be on duty but abandoned his post to commit the crime.
He was later traced to Andy Guest House in Ukanafun LGA, many kilometers from the scene of crime, where he was arrested and the rifle recovered, the case file stated.
The judge, Justice Nkanang, held that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that Corporal Iweh, a native of Ameke Nkor in Ngor Okpala LGA of Imo State, murdered Jimmy, a native of Ikot Abasi.
The court noted that investigations revealed that Corporal Iweh, a father of three children, who joined the Nigerian Army in 2002, had illegally kept the AK-47 rifle.
He was sentenced to death by hanging for murder, death by hanging for armed robbery, and 10 years imprisonment for unlawful possession of firearms.
In his plea for mercy, the convict begged the court for what he described as a “soft landing,” but his plea was rejected.
Jimmy is survived by his 34-year-old widow, Arit, who said her husband had left Port Harcourt to visit his sister and family in Ikot Abasi, but did not return.
