A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has convicted and sentenced to death by hanging one Sodeinye Mbatumukeke for murdering a Jumia delivery agent, Chukkwuma Eleji.
Justice I. P. Chigoezi-Igwe in the judgment o Monday in Port Harcourt discharged and acquitted the second defendant in the case Divine Naabe of the murder and robbery charges.
Chigoezi-igwe and Naabe were arrested in Port Harcourt and charged to court over their alleged involvement in the killing of a Jumia agent after the victim had delivered some valuables to the duo.
Chigoezi-Igwe in his judgment said the prosecution team was able to prove their case and convinced the court that Mbatumukeke killed the Jumia agent.
The judge ruled that even though the convict was rejecting the confessional and extra-judicial statements he earlier made in the matter, the evidence provided was weighty enough to prove that he (Mbatumukeke) murdered the Jumia delivery agent.
The Judge also found him guilty of the second charge, armed robbery, describing the murder of the Jumia delivery agent as unlawful and gruesome.
He, however, sentenced the prime suspect to death by hanging, noting that the sentence will serve as a deterrent to other criminal elements.
Chigoezi-igwe, however, discharged and acquitted Naabe of murder and robbery charges, noting that there were doubts in the evidence provided by the prosecution team to find the second Defendant guilty of the crimes. (Vanguard Nigeria)
