Justice Letam Nyordee of a High
Court in Port Harcourt has sentenced three out of the seven people facing trial
in the killing of four students of the University of Port Harcourt popularly
called Aluu4 to death.
Those sentenced to death include,
ex-Sergeant Lucky Orji, Ikechukwu Luis Amadi and David Chinasa Ogbonda.
The other four suspects facing
trial; Abiodun Yusuf, Joshua Ekpe, Abang Cyril, and John Ayu were discharged
and acquitted for lack of overwhelming evidence.
Justice Nyordee in his Judgment
blamed the accused persons for embarking on mob action without having the facts
about the action of the students.
The Judge said the death of the
four children was a culmination of the shameful failure of security
institutions especially in the area of intelligence sharing, adding that the
Police, the C4i and the Joint Military Task Force failed in their
responsibilities.
“You are found guilty in line
with Section 319 of the Criminal Code cap 9. of the Laws of Rivers state.”
Speaking with newsmen, counsel to
the convicted persons, Chukwueze Ifedi said the decision of the court was based
on findings of the investigation.
For his part, the obviously
disappointed Director of Public Prosecutions, Ibikiri Otorubio said the state
will study the judgment and decide on the next line of action.
“What we can say is that the
judge has done his part and we will do our own. We will study the judgment and
take the next action,” he said.
Twelve people were standing trial
for the murder of the young undergraduates but five were discharged early this
year.
Ugonna Obuzor, Toku Lloyd,
Chiadika Biringa and Tekena Elkanah were killed on October 5th, 2012 at Omokiri
community, Aluu in Ikwerre Local government area of Rivers state.
Father of one of the killed
students, Mike Torku expressed disappointment in the judgment.
Torku said the only consolation
from the decision of the court is that the children who were wrongly killed
have been vindicated.
He also expressed happiness that
the matter which has been on since 2012 has come to an end.
Of course their tragic end can never go without repercussion. Every act of evil has repercussion and redistributive law of nature must take its course.
ReplyDeleteEmeka, you are very correct.
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