A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has convicted and sentenced twin brothers and five others to death by hanging for the abduction and murder of a cleric, Rev. Edwin Dokubo-Harry.
The offence was committed in 2013 in the Abalama community, Asari-Toru Local Government Area of the state.
Delivering judgment, the presiding judge, Justice Boma Diepiri, however, discharged and acquitted two other defendants — Emmanuel Israel and Nephew Philemon — on the grounds that the prosecution failed to prove the 25-count charge bordering on conspiracy, kidnapping, murder, and unlawful possession of firearms against them.
The court heard that the convicts, alongside others still at large, on December 6, 2013, lured Rev. Dokubo-Harry to a forest in the Abalama community, where they kidnapped him, blindfolded him, and tied his hands.
Their actions eventually led to the cleric’s death, after which his corpse was dumped in a creek in the area.
Justice Diepiri held that the prosecution successfully proved the offences of conspiracy, kidnapping, murder, unlawful possession of firearms, and related criminal acts against Precious Jack Opera, Answer Dick, Osaki Fubara, Prince Mikado Philip, Tienabeso George, Seleipri Fubara, and Alaboeriya Fubara.
The judge subsequently sentenced the seven convicts to death by hanging, directing that they “be hanged by the neck until confirmed dead.”
The court also ordered that the recovered firearm and other exhibits tendered during the trial be handed over to the Nigeria Police.
Our correspondent reports that shortly after the sentence was pronounced, some of the convicts and their family members broke down in tears inside the courtroom.
