A high court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, has sentenced a dismissed soldier, Stephen Iweh, to death by hanging for the murder of a Port Harcourt-based clearing and forwarding manager.
Iweh, who served as a corporal with the Nigerian Army’s 6 Battalion in Ibagwa, Abak, was found guilty of killing 42-year-old Christopher Enobong Jimmy on May 23, 2021, after the victim had offered him a lift.
According to court proceedings, Jimmy met Iweh at the Trailer Park in Onne, Rivers State, and agreed to drive him in his Toyota Matrix to Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom. However, at Oboro junction in Ikot Abasi, Iweh shot Jimmy dead, stole his car and other belongings, and fled.
Investigations revealed that Iweh had been in unlawful possession of an AK-47 rifle since 2018, which he claimed to have taken during a military operation in Borno. The same weapon was used in the killing. He was eventually tracked down to a guest house in Ukanafun, where security operatives arrested him and recovered the gun.
Testifying in court, Arit Jimmy, the widow of the deceased, said her husband had left Port Harcourt to visit his sister in Ikot Abasi but never returned.
Delivering judgment on Friday, presiding judge Justice Bassey Nkanang declared that “the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.” Iweh was convicted on three counts m¥rder, armed r+bbery, and unlawful possession of firearms.
He was sentenced to d+ath by hanging for m¥rder, d+ath by hanging for armed r+bbery, and 10 years in prison for unlawful possession of firearms.
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