IN Ikare Ekiti yesterday, Theophilus Pius, 26, was sentenced to death by hanging for murdering a female NYSC corps member Anthonia Okeke.
Justice Adegoriola Adeleye of Ekiti State High Court also sentenced Mr. Pius to ten years of imprisonment for kidnapping the late Anthonia.
On December 19, 2008, Mr. Pius, a former commercial motorcyclist, conspired with others to kidnap and later murder Ms. Okeke, a serving National Youth Service Corps member, in Ilawe-Ekiti. The young woman who was heading home to Anambra State for Christmas celebrations, hired Mr. Pius, an okada rider, to take her to the motor park in Ikere. She and other corps members had agreed to meet there to travel to the East.
Anthonia, a Chemical Engineering graduate of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, hailed from Umuno Ndiuno in Ezeagu LGA of Enugu State. She was 27 years old at the time. She had been patronizing Pius for months after discovering they were both from the same state.
Justice Adeleye ruled out that the evidence presented against the accused person is sufficient and reliable enough to pronounce him guilty.
Ms. Okeke’s elder brother Mr. Obinna Okeke, acting as a spokesperson for the family, commended the judgment and thanked the State Ministry of Justice, the police, the human rights groups and National Youth Service Corps for ensuring that the case was put to its “very useful and meaningful end.”
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