A Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt has convicted and sentenced Damian Okoligwe, a 400-level pupil of the College of Port Harcourt, to loss of life by hanging for the homicide of his girlfriend, Justina Otuene.
Okoligwe, a Petrochemical Engineering pupil, killed Otuene, a 300-level Biochemistry pupil, on October 20, 2023, at his Mgbuogba condominium in Obio-Akpor Native Authorities Space.
He dismembered her physique and dumped it in a wheelbarrow, planning to eliminate it earlier than his arrest.
The trial decide, Justice Chinwe Nsirum-Nwosu, delivered the judgment, stating that the prosecution proved the three components of homicide towards Okoligwe.
The decide described Okoligwe’s actions as intentional, composed, calculated, and evil, with no contradiction within the proof.
Talking exterior the courtroom, the prosecution, led by Charles Mbaba, expressed satisfaction with the judgment, saying it could convey closure to Otuene’s household and function a deterrent to others.
Okoligwe’s counsel declined to touch upon the judgment, whereas Otuene’s brother, Osatawaji Otuene, welcomed the decision, saying it introduced reduction to the household.
Time of Homicide
The Guardian studies the incident occurred in Mgbuoba, Port Harcourt, when property safety found the physique of the younger girl in Okoligwe’s condominium on NTA Street. Police have been alerted after Okoligwe was seen trying to maneuver her stays, and he was subsequently arrested.
Movies circulated on social media confirmed the suspect in handcuffs being led by cops to his condominium.
Investigators found the sufferer’s physique wrapped in blood-stained sacks on a wheelbarrow, with blood additionally seen on the ground.
Okoligwe, who was a fellow UNIPORT pupil, admitted that Tiffany was his girlfriend and that her physique was present in his condominium, however he denied accountability for her loss of life.
He instructed police he found her lifeless and didn’t report it on account of sickness, remaining within the condominium regardless of the decomposition and odour.
The police famous that a number of physique elements have been lacking, elevating suspicions that dismemberment might have been ritualistic.
The College of Port Harcourt Vice-Chancellor said on the time, “Justice have to be accomplished for this matter as a result of no pupil right here has the precise to kill or assault anybody. The punishment for bodily violence is outright expulsion.”
Following the arrest, the Rivers State Police transferred the case to the State Felony Investigations Division for additional investigation. The sufferer’s stays have been deposited in a mortuary for post-mortem.
Two years after the incident, the court docket handed down a loss of life sentence to Okoligwe.
