A High Court sitting in the Ogbaru Judicial Division of Anambra State has sentenced a vigilante operative, Onyeka Eze, to death by hanging for the murder of a phone repairer, Anayo Ugbo.
The court, presided over by the Administrative Judge, Justice Charles Okaa, delivered the judgment on Thursday after finding the defendant guilty of the offence.
The prosecuting counsel, an Assistant Chief State Counsel from the Anambra State Ministry of Justice, Chinyere Aganama-Onyeze, told the court that the victim, Ugbo, who hailed from Ogboji Ezzagu in Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, was repairing a phone at the Shoe Site Market in Okpoko, Ogbaru LGA, on May 5, 2022, when the defendant summoned him to meet their “boss.”
However, upon arrival, the vigilante boss was not present. The victim reportedly pleaded with the defendant to allow him return to his shop to continue his work, but the request was declined.
Angered by the refusal, the defendant reportedly assaulted the victim and pushed him from the third floor of the building.
The fall caused severe head injuries, and Ugbo died two days later at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, where he had been taken for treatment.
According to the prosecution, the victim had asked for time to complete the repair work, but the defendant refused and insisted that he follow him to the vigilante office located in a three-storey building within the market.
Ugbo eventually accompanied him to the office along with his customer.
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