Court sentences five to death for murder in Rivers

A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has convicted and sentenced to death, five individuals for the murder of Umezuruike Alex, the Onelga Security Peace Advisory Committee, OSPAC, commander of Omudioga community in Emohua Local Government Area of the state.

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OSPAC s a local vigilante group resident in some communities in different local government areas of Rivers State.

Okechukwu Orji from Atali community in Obio-Akpor LGA, Igwe Promise, Iheanyi Igwe, Morrison Igwe, all from Omudioga in Emohua Local Government Area, and Goodness Monday from Akwa-Ibom State, were convicted on charges including conspiracy, cultism, murder and illegal possession of firearms.

The trial Judge, Justice Sika Aprioku, acquitted the sixth defendant, Alex Deiwe.

Justice Aprioku affirmed that the prosecution, led by Essein Edet, proved its case against the five convicts.

Following the conviction, the judge sentenced the convicts to death by hanging, or, alternatively, administration of a lethal injection until confirmed dead.

The court emphasized that the convicted individuals not only murdered the OSPAC commander but were also involved in kidnapping and other criminal activities across the state prior to their arrest and prosecution.

The late Omudioga OSPAC commander, Alex, was brutally murdered and dismembered by cultists in 2021 for his efforts in combating criminal activities in the area.