Justice C. C. Ani of the Enugu State High Court has convicted and sentenced a 32-year-old man, Okolie Chigozie Michael, to death by hanging for unlawfully killing his son.
Okolie, a native of Ibeme Obingwa in Abia State, was arraigned before the court for taking his son, Igwilo Chimereucheya, to the bush and strangling him to death on April 14, 2020, at Emene in Enugu.
Delivering judgment on the matter on Wednesday, the court found the accused guilty after it was proved beyond reasonable doubt by the prosecution that he killed his son.
Regrettably, when the child didn’t die, the convict hit him on the chest, which resulted in the child passing out hot faeces and urine before giving up the ghost.
The convict was accused of using his fingers to scratch and inflict bodily injury on his son, making it appear as if the child was involved in a fight, after which the convict took him home, cleaned him up, and laid him on the bed, leaving him as though he were asleep.
He reportedly later attempted to escape.
The mother of the year and seven-month-old child, who hails from Enugu, raised the alarm and attracted neighbours when she noticed that the child was dead.
In its judgment, the court agreed with the Prosecuting Counsel, Nkechi Ogbodo of the Department of Public Prosecution, Ministry of Justice, Enugu, who had, during the trial, tendered evidence before the court, including an autopsy report that proved that indeed the deceased was strangled to death.
It was gathered that the convict was a serial abuser, who constantly beat up the mother of his son.
It was further gathered that he was earlier made to sign an undertaking at the police station at the insistence of their landlord and his wife’s employer, due to constant threats that he would kill both the mother and her child.
Consequently, he was cautioned at different police stations to desist from his violent acts before the incident that led to the death of his son, Chimereucheya, occurred.
It was reported that on certain occasions, the convict inflicted injury on the deceased’s penis because he urinated on the bed.
Justice Ani noted in her ruling that it was evident from the confession by the culprit on how he murdered the deceased that it was a voluntary and premeditated act, not carried out under duress.
Therefore, the court found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to death accordingly, having committed the offence punishable under Section 274(1) of the Criminal Code, Cap 30, Vol. II, Revised Laws of Enugu State of Nigeria 2004.
