A High Court sitting in Ikeja – Lagos, sentenced a middle aged man, Thank-God Ukwueze, this weekend to five years imprisonment for being responsible for the death of his niece, Nkiru Iruka who died eight years ago.
Ukwueze who was charged for murder, was said to have allegedly committed the said crime on January 17, 2004 in Ikoyi, Lagos, and was charged accordingly under Section 319(1) of Criminal Code Cap C, Vol. 2 Laws of Lagos State in November 29, 2005.
It is as a result that the court convicted him for manslaughter in accordance with Section 317 of the same law.
The presiding judge, Justice Adebisi Kayode-Ogunmekan, in her judgment, opined that though he was found guilty for the death of Iruka, the facts and circumstances of the case made it reasonable to convict him of a lesser punishment relating to man Slaughter..
The Jude affirmed “Although the accused was charged for the offence of murder, I am of the view that lesser charge is appropriate considering the facts and circumstances of this case.
“I hereby find the accused person guilty of a lesser offence of manslaughter, which attracts the maximum sentence of a life imprisonment. I sentence the accused to five years imprisonment, which excludes the years he had spent in prison following his remand on January 19, 2004.”
The decision of the court was based on the premise that though the accused person’s action caused the death of Nkiru, it did not appear deliberate but, was rather meant to scare her.
The prosecution however held that , the Ukwueze, allegedly killed Nkiru, a 22 year old girl by hitting her on the head with a pestle and throwing her down from a three storey building in Ikoyi-Lagos.
The judgment passed became imperative when Ukwueze contradicted his statement by saying that he could not say exactly how the deceased slipped from the third floor of the storey building, but only became aware of the incident when people down stairs alerted him. The judge however stated that Ukweze had constructed the lie to cover up his crime as his statements were quite contradictory.
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