The Ebonyi State High Court, Ohaukwu Judicial Division, has sentenced four persons to death by hanging over the murder of 26- year-old Chinonso Elom.
Elom, popularly known as Oscar, was murdered by the convicted persons on February 5, 2023 in Ngbo community in Ebonyi State.
The deceased and the four convicts were said to have hailed from Ohaukwu Local Government Area of the state.
Those convicted to die by hanging were Anthony Elom a.k.a Tidy, Chibueze Onwe a.k.a Chief, Chukwuemeka Ugah a.k.a Parity and Uchenna Odono, a relative of a top official in the council.
The four convicted persons on the fateful day in company of one ThankGod Onwe, who is now at large, drove a branded Sienna bus belonging to a known political party to Ndulo Umuogudu Akpu road.
They were said to have stopped in front of the late Chinonso’s business area near Okwo Ngbo Main Market.
According to eye witnesses, the five men who were believed to be members of a secret cult demanded that Elom must provide information on the whereabouts of his younger brother whom they reportedly had misunderstanding with.
When he could not provide such information, they attempted to drag him into the Sienna bus.
Upon his refusal to enter the Sienna, one of the hoodlums, Anthony Elom also known as Tidy, reportedly shot him on the head with a shot gun and he died instantly.
The gruesome murder caused a pandemonium leading to a wide protest by Ngbo youths who demanded that the killers be arrested and justice served.
Four of the killers who could be recognised by some eyewitnesses were subsequently arrested by the police while the fifth person, ThankGod Onwe, remains at large.
They were later charged to court for the case of murder preferred on them by the State.
Delivering the judgement, Justice Esther Otah said that the evidence provided by the prosecuting counsel including the eyewitness accounts proved beyond reasonable doubts that the accused were responsible for the killing of the late Chinonso Elom.
She stressed that the defense of the defendants were not enough to exonerate them from the crime.
The judge added that a forensic check on the gun later recovered from the killers also indicated that it matched the bullet used to kill Elom.
On why they were all served the death penalty instead of singling out Anthony Elom who shot the victim, Justice Otah said that the killers formed a common intention to prosecute the unlawful purpose.
The judge noted that they are liable for the eventual outcome of the unlawful purpose they pursued and the fact that one of them shot the victim was immaterial.
