A RIVERS State High Court in Port Harcourt has sentenced seven persons, including twin brothers, to death by hanging over the 2013 abduction and murder of a clergyman, Edwin Isaiah Dokubo-Harry.
Justice Boma Diepiri, on Monday, May 25, found the defendants guilty of conspiracy, kidnapping, murder, illegal possession of firearms and other related offences after years of trial.
The convicts are Precious Jack Opara, Answer Dick, Osaki Fubara, Alaboeriya Fubara, Mikado Philip, Tienabeso George and Seleipri Fubara, while it discharged and acquitted two other defendants, Emmanuel Isreal and Nephew Philemon, holding that the prosecution failed to sufficiently prove their involvement in the crime.
During trial, the court was told that the convicts, along with others still at large, lured Dokubo-Harry to a forest in Abalama community, Asari-Toru Local Council of the state on December 6, 2013, abducted, blindfolded and tied him up before being killed, after which his body was dumped in a creek within the community.
Justice Diepiri held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and subsequently imposed the death sentence on all seven convicted persons.
The Judge also ordered that a firearm recovered during investigations, along with other exhibits tendered in the trial, be handed over to the Nigerian Police Force (NPF).
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