4 Sentenced To Loss of life By Hanging For Killing Rivers DPO
A Rivers State Excessive Court docket sitting in Port Harcourt has sentenced 4 of the 13 individuals standing trial for the killing of the previous Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Ahoada East Police Division, SP Bako Angbashim, to loss of life by hanging.
The late DPO was killed on September 8, 2023, throughout a police operation in Odemude group, Ahoada East Native Authorities Space of the state. His physique was reportedly dismembered, an incident that sparked stress throughout the world.
Following the killing, the police, in collaboration with different safety companies, launched a joint operation that led to the loss of life of the suspected cult chief, David Okparawo, also called 2Baba.
Delivering judgment, Justice Sika Aprioku held that the prosecution proved past affordable doubt the fees of conspiracy, homicide, membership of a secret cult group and theft in opposition to the 4 convicts, together with a local physician accused of making ready charms used within the assault.
The courtroom ordered that the primary defendant, Robinson Sonabari, recognized because the native physician; Brilliant Okparawo (second defendant); Valuable Amaeze, also called Selina (fourth defendant); and Loveday Jack, popularly referred to as Rugged Extra (fifth defendant), be hanged till confirmed lifeless.
The decide additionally sentenced the sixth defendant, Samuel Nwadinma, to 3 years imprisonment for conspiracy, whereas the third accused was discharged and acquitted of all 4 counts.
As well as, the courtroom discharged Well-known Okechukwu, Samuel Uchendu, Oyekachi Ikonwa, Godbless Nnamdi and Marshall Daniel — the ninth to thirteenth defendants — after discovering that that they had already served the statutory time period for membership of a secret cult.
Chatting with journalists after the judgment, lead prosecution counsel from the Rivers State Ministry of Justice, Chigozie Amadi, alongside a member of the Police authorized workforce, Celestine Dickson, counseled the courtroom for guaranteeing justice.
Dickson expressed concern that law enforcement officials have more and more grow to be targets of legal components however mentioned the decision sends a transparent message that perpetrators can’t evade justice.
The elder brother of the late DPO, Akasoo Amgbashim, who travelled from Nasarawa State, described the judgment as therapeutic for the household and counseled the judiciary, the Rivers State Authorities and the Nigeria Police Drive for his or her efforts.
The 4 convicts have been amongst 72 individuals initially arraigned earlier than the Rivers State Excessive Court docket by a joint prosecution workforce of the Division of Public Prosecutions and the Rivers State Police Command. Earlier within the trial, 61 defendants, together with conventional ruler Eze Kelvin Anugwo and a former chairman of Ahoada East, Cassidy Ikegbidi, have been discharged and acquitted for lack of proof, leaving 13 individuals to face trial.
Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
Times Nigeria