The Akwa Ibom State High Court in Uyo has sentenced a dismissed Nigerian Army corporal, Stephen Iweh, to death by hanging for the murder of Christopher Enobong Jimmy and the armed robbery of his vehicle and personal belongings.
Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Bassey Nkanang ruled that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that Iweh committed the crime on May 23, 2021, along the East–West Road in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area.
Investigations revealed that the victim, a 42-year-old clearing and forwarding company manager in Port Harcourt, had offered the 39-year-old soldier a lift in his grey Toyota Matrix from Trailer Park in Onne, Rivers State, to Ikot Abasi. During the trip, they stopped at Oboro Junction, where Iweh—dressed in full military uniform—shot Jimmy dead, stole the car and valuables, and fled.
Police later traced Iweh to Andy Guest House in Ukanafun, several kilometres from the crime scene, where he was arrested. An AK-47 rifle, which he admitted to unlawfully keeping since 2018 after allegedly finding it in Dambou, Borno State, was recovered. The court also found that Iweh had abandoned his duty post at the Army Store of 6 Battalion, Ibagwa, Abak, on the day of the crime to carry out the killing.
Justice Nkanang pronounced the death sentence after also convicting Iweh of unlawful possession of a firearm, stressing that evidence showed the ex-soldier, a native of Ameke Nkor in Ngor Okpala Local Government Area of Imo State and a father of three, deliberately planned and executed the crime.
The judgment brings an end to a four-year trial that has drawn widespread attention across Akwa Ibom and Rivers states.
