Nigerian soldier | File photo
A high court in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, has sentenced Stephen Iweh, a dismissed soldier, to death by hanging for the murder of a Port Harcourt-based clearing and forwarding manager.
Iweh, a corporal with the Nigerian Army’s 6 Battalion, Ibagwa in Abak, was convicted of killing 42-year-old Christopher Enobong Jimmy after the victim offered him a lift on May 23, 2021.
The court heard that Jimmy met Iweh at the Trailer Park in Onne, Rivers state, and agreed to give him a lift in his Toyota Matrix to Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom.
At Oboro junction in Ikot Abasi, Iweh shot him dead, stole his vehicle, and fled with other personal belongings.
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Investigations also revealed that the ex-soldier 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 gun was used in Jimmy’s killing.
He was later tracked to a guest house in Ukanafun, where he was arrested and the weapon recovered.
Arit Jimmy, the victim’s widow, told the court her husband had left Port Harcourt to visit his sister in Ikot Abasi but never returned.
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Delivering judgment on Friday, Bassey Nkanang, presiding judge, held that the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. The court convicted Iweh on three counts of murder, armed robbery, and unlawful possession of firearms.
He was sentenced to death by hanging for murder, death by hanging for armed robbery, and 10 years’ imprisonment for unlawful possession of firearms.
