Court Gives Verdict On Pastor Who K-illed Choir Mistress, Others | READ DETAILS
One Pastor Chidiebere Okoroafor, the General Overseer of the Altar of Solution and Healing Assembly in Oyigbo, Rivers State, has been sentenced to death by hanging for kill-ing three persons.
Justice S.O. Benson of a High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, found Okoroafor guilty of ki-lling his choir mistress, Orlunma Nwagba, who he allegedly impregnated; Nwagba’s friend, Chigozie Ezenwa, and her eleven-month-old daughter, Cresabel, on December 11, 2017, in the Oyigbo Local Government Area of the state.
Justice Benson in his ruling, said the evidence and confessional statements from pastor Okoroafor, showed that he committed the crimes.
He added that the prosecution proved the case of mu-rder against the cleric and ordered that he should be ki-lled by hanging him by the neck until he is dead or should be injected with a lethal injection which also kills faster.
Okoroafor was on December 17, 2017, arrested by operatives of the Rivers State Police Command following an alarm raised by Ezenwa’s husband over the k-illing of the three persons.
The convict was said to have lured the choir mistress and her friend to a bush where he killed them including the baby after they visited him to discuss the said pregnancy.
He was said to have allegedly committed the mur-der in two different locations.
Speaking to journalists outside the courtroom, the prosecution counsel from the state Ministry of Justice, Precious Ordu, expressed happiness over the judgment.
While noting that the prosecution received several threats in the course of the trial, Ordu expressed delight that justice has prevailed
“Justice has been served to the state, the complainant and the convict.
“This will serve as a deterrent to all those who intend to commit the same offence because it is justice for all,” he said.
On his part, counsel for the defendant, Innocent Ekwu, said he and his team would appeal the judgment.
“We, as counsel for the defendant, have decided to appeal the case. We are going to file our notice of appeal as quickly as possible because we have grounds on which we believe that the defendant did not commit the offence,” he said.