By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
A High Court sitting in Anambra State has sentenced a commercial tricycle rider, identified as Makua Ezike, a member of a “one chance” robbery gang, to death by hanging for the murder of one Jude Onwuegbuchunam, an indigene of Umuoji in Idemili North Local Government Area of the state.
The court, presided over by Justice Lauretta Oyeka, found Ezike guilty of murder in the offence that was committed on November 17, 2019, along the Oba-Obosi-Nkpor-Umuoji Road, according to the charge sheet obtained on Monday, June 1.
Ezike was said to be using his tricycle alongside his other gang members for a “one-chance” robbery operation.
The defendant and two members of his gang, who are still at large, while posing as a commercial tricycle rider and passengers, picked up an unsuspecting Onwuegbuchunam and, midway into the journey, attempted to rob him of his phone and other valuables.
When Onwuegbuchunam resisted and raised the alarm, Ezike and his gang members pushed him out of the high-speed moving tricycle near Abidi Hall, Umuoji, where Umuoji Vigilante operatives were stationed.
The vigilante operatives, it was also gathered, gave the “one-chance” robbery syndicate a hot chase, leading to Ezike abandoning the tricycle and fleeing with the other members of his gang.
He was said to return the next day to the scene where he had abandoned the tricycle, and was subsequently arrested by the vigilante operatives, who later handed him over to the police, where he confessed to the crime.
The victim, Onwuegbuchunam, who sustained fatal injuries, died two days later.
During the trial, the prosecution called five witnesses, including the medical doctor who conducted the post-mortem examination on Onwuegbuchunam and confirmed that his death resulted directly from the injuries he sustained in the fall.
Though the defence argued that there was no eyewitness, Justice Oyeka held that the law recognises three pathways to conviction: direct eyewitness evidence, confessional statements and circumstantial evidence.
The judge, however, noted that, in this case, the circumstantial evidence was overwhelming, ranging from the abandoned tricycle to Ezike’s disappearance from the scene, his voluntary confession, and the medical evidence linking the victim’s injuries and death to his actions.
The court, therefore, convicted Ezike of murder and ordered that he be put to death by hanging.
