By Owen Akenzua,Asaba
#TrackNigeria: A High Court sitting at Ughelli in Delta has sentenced a 40 year old farmer, Alex Obigho for killing a steward who works for a traditional ruler.
The Court presided over by Justice A. Olotu Akpovi on Thursday evening found the accused guilty of the one count charge of murder preferred against him by the state and accordingly, sentenced him to death by
hanging.
The death of the victim, Okunu Diafa, a native of Kiagbodo community was brutally murdered on the 22nd of June, 2012 at the boundary
between Oviri-Olomu of Ughelli South local government and Kiagbodo,
Burutu local government.
Justice Akpovi in his judgement, commended the traditional rulers of
both communities for handling the matter with maturity.
“The deceased was not armed and the level of damage was unreasonable.
The accused did not report the matter to the police for investigation
rather he killed the man, absconded and sold his phone.
“This shows that the accused is hardened. He had the option of to arrest the deceased and hand him over to the police instead of taking the laws
into his hands,” the court ruled.
The trial Judge declined the plea for allocutus by the Counsel to
the accused, who begged the court to mitigate the sentence by imposing
a lesser punishment.
He said that the evidence before the court were overwhelming and that the accused who laid ambush on the deceased while armed with a cutlass had the intention to kill.
In his defense, the accused alleged that the deceased was a thief
responsible for stealing his farm produce, adding that on that fateful
day, he caught the deceased on his farm and on sighting him, the
deceased took to his heels.
