A Delta State High Court sitting in Effurun has sentenced two men to death after finding them guilty of conspiracy, armed robbery and multiple counts of murder linked to a series of violent attacks across the state.
Justice N. Obi of High Court 3, Effurun, delivered the judgment in Charge No. EHC/19C/2023, involving the State against Edafe Adu, Akpobor Erhianor, Tibra Cornelius and Oghenewegba Cadeton.
The court sentenced the second and third defendants, Akpobor Erhianor and Tibra Cornelius, to death after holding that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that they participated in a string of armed robberies and killings committed between July and August 2022.
The first defendant, Edafe Adu, escaped the death penalty after entering into a plea bargain with the prosecution. He was subsequently convicted for conspiracy and armed robbery.
Meanwhile, the fourth defendant, Oghenewegba Cadeton, was discharged and acquitted after the court ruled that the prosecution failed to establish the allegation that he belonged to an unlawful society.
The prosecution, led by Miss Phoebian Onomakpome, an Assistant Director in the Delta State Ministry of Justice, told the court that the convicted men, alongside others still at large, carried out a series of coordinated armed robberies and fatal attacks in different parts of Delta State.
According to the prosecution, on July 26, 2022, the gang robbed a car dealer, Trust Dick, at Okuokoko in Okpe Local Government Area, making away with a Toyota Camry and a Lexus Jeep at gunpoint.
The court also heard that on August 13, 2022, the defendants attacked another car dealer, Damian Owuchigbo, at his car stand along Old Airport Road, Effurun, stealing a Hyundai SUV, mobile phones and other valuables.
The prosecution further established that on August 10, 2022, the gang shot dead two vigilantes who were on patrol in Owhase Community.
In another incident, the court heard that the convicts murdered Godspower Moses on August 23, 2022, before fleeing with his Mercedes-Benz GLK, mobile phones and other valuables.
They were also found guilty of killing Evans Whiskey Agbaire on July 2, 2022, after which they stole his Toyota Sienna bus.
The prosecution also linked the convicts to the attempted murder of Alfred Orioka and Hon. Festus Ovwata during the wave of violent attacks.
Delivering judgment, Justice Obi held that the evidence presented by the prosecution established the guilt of the second and third defendants beyond reasonable doubt.
The court consequently sentenced Akpobor Erhianor and Tibra Cornelius to death for conspiracy, armed robbery and murder, while reaffirming the conviction of the first defendant under the plea bargain agreement and acquitting the fourth defendant of the unlawful society charge.