A Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt has sentenced a 26-year-old University of Port Harcourt student, Damian Okoligwe, to death by hanging for the murder of his girlfriend, Justina Otuene, a 300-level Biochemistry undergraduate.
Justice Chiwen Nsirim-Nwosu, in a judgment delivered on Friday, held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, establishing that Okoligwe deliberately killed Justina in October 2023 at his residence in Ozuoba, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.
Okoligwe, a 400-level Petrochemical Engineering student at the time of the incident, was arrested after neighbours alerted the police to a foul smell from his apartment.
Officers who forced the door open reportedly found Justina’s dismembered remains stuffed in a Ghana-must-go bag.
During the trial, Okoligwe denied killing his girlfriend, claiming he had been ill when she visited and only woke to find her lifeless.
He further told journalists in 2023 that he left the house for treatment and returned three days later to dispose of the body.
Justice Nsirim-Nwosu dismissed the explanation as unrealistic, ruling that the evidence— including the state of the victim’s body—pointed clearly to intentional killing.
The case, which began at a Port Harcourt Magistrates’ Court, was transferred to the Department of Public Prosecution on the orders of Chief Magistrate Nnenda Onugbum before being filed at the High Court.
Full trial commenced in May 2024 after the Rivers State Government took over the prosecution.
Speaking after the judgment, prosecuting counsel Charles Obediah-Mbaba described the verdict as justice for the late Justina, the only daughter of her parents.
“Justice has not only been done but has been seen and felt to be done,” Obediah-Mbaba said.
“Justina was gruesomely murdered in circumstances suggestive of ritual intent. We believe this judgment will bring some repose to her soul.”
He added that the ruling should serve as a deterrent to young people seeking wealth through criminal shortcuts.
The victim’s elder brother, Osat-Awaji Otuene, said the family felt relieved by the judgment.
“It was a very detailed and well-structured judgment,” he said.
“We are comforted that my sister did not die for nothing. The judgment was deserved.”
The defence counsel declined comments when approached by journalists
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