ASABA: A Delta State High Court sitting in Kwale, Delta State, has sentenced a 24-year-old man, Ebinum Prosper, to death by hanging for the murder of his classmate, Ojieh Chibogu.
The conviction was delivered on Monday by Justice F. Enemor of High Court No. 2 after the court found the defendant guilty of murder beyond reasonable doubt.
According to the prosecution, led by Mrs. Catherine O. Onoberhie-Oberuomo of the Delta State Ministry of Justice, the incident occurred on June 29, 2016, in Ugiliama Community, Kwale, following a misunderstanding between the two classmates.
The court heard that Prosper stabbed the victim with a knife during the altercation, leading to Chibogu’s death.
The case, filed as State vs. Ebinum Prosper (Suit No. HCK/89C/2022), was initially handled in Asaba before proceedings were disrupted during the EndSARS protests, when court documents and exhibits linked to the matter were destroyed in a fire incident at the address stage.
Following the establishment of the Kwale Criminal Division, prosecutors successfully applied for a fresh trial (trial de novo) in Kwale, where the offence originally occurred.
Certified true copies of processes from the High Court Registry in Asaba were later used to reconstruct the case file.
After the prosecution closed its case, the defence reportedly took over one year before opening its defence.
In his judgment, Justice Enemor ruled that the evidence presented sufficiently established the defendant’s guilt, leading to his conviction and subsequent death sentence by hanging.
