Nearly eight years after the gruesome murder of Delta State University undergraduate, Elozino Ogege, the Delta State High Court sitting in Ogwashi-Uku has sentenced two men to death by hanging for their roles in the crime.
The trial court, presided over by Justice Ngozi Azinge, convicted the two defendants after finding them guilty of the abduction and murder of the 300-level Mass Communication student, whose killing in November 2018 triggered nationwide outrage and renewed concerns over insecurity.
Justice Azinge, in the judgment delivered on Wednesday, held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt against the convicts.
The court, however, discharged and acquitted a third defendant, a security guard, after ruling that the evidence presented against him was insufficient to sustain a conviction.
The judgment brought to a close a protracted legal battle over the killing of Ogege, whose death sparked widespread condemnation from students, civil society organisations and Nigerians across the country.
Ogege, then a 300-level Mass Communication student at Delta State University, was abducted and later murdered in November 2018 in a case that drew national attention and prompted calls for justice.
The case became one of the most closely watched criminal trials in Delta State, with the victim’s family and rights advocates insisting that those responsible be brought to justice.
With Wednesday’s verdict, the court upheld the prosecution’s case against the two convicted men, ordering that they be executed by hanging in accordance with the law.
The acquittal of the security guard underscored the court’s position that criminal liability must be established through credible and convincing evidence.
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