The trial opened yesterday in Port Harcourt of
the 12 suspected killers of four undergraduate
students of the University of Port Harcourt
(UNIPORT) at Aluu community, Ikwerre Local
Government Area.
Ugonna Obuzor (18, Theatre Arts), Lloyd Toku
Mike (20, Civil Engineering), Chiadika Biringa
(20, Theatre Arts ) and Tekena Elkanah (21,
Education), were murdered by a mob at
Omuokiri, Aluu near UNIPORT on October 5,
last year. They were alleged to have stolen
telephone handsets.
The prosecution, led by the Solicitor-General
and Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry
of Justice, Rufus N. Godwins, opened the case
when he swore in the first prosecution Witness
(PW1), Raphael Ezeji, a senior police officer,
who led the investigation into the killings.
Two sets of people –one set charged with
murder and the other with negligence – are
standing trial.
Charged with murder are: Lawal Segun, ex-Sgt.
Lucky Orji, Ikechukwu Louis Amadi (aka
Kapoon), David Chinasa Ogbada, Abiodun
Yusuf, Joshua Ekpe, Abang Cyril and John
Ayuwu. They are the first set of those on trial.
The traditional ruler of Aluu, Alhaj. Hassan
Welewa; Okoghiroh Endurance, Ozioma Abajuo
and Chigozie Evans Samuel are charged with
negligence.
Ezeji, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP),
who is the second in-command in the
Homicide Department of the Rivers State
Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), told
Mr. Justice Latam Nyordee of a State High
Court part of his findings on the death of the
four youths.
DSP Ezeji said: “I am a staff (employee) of
Rivers State Police command, attached to the
SCID, Port Harcourt.
“I have worked as a Police officer for more
than 25 years, and as a registered detective
officer for over 15 years.
“As a criminal dictation officer, my job entails
investigation of murder (homicide) cases and
other responsibilities assigned to me. On
October 5, 2013; my department received a
report of the gruesome murder of four
undergraduate students of UNIPORT at Aluu.
“The report we received was that these four
boys were stripped naked, paraded with
jubilation and about to be set ablaze (lynched)
at Omuokiri Aluu. As a result of this (report),
the police division Isiokpo dispatched a
combined team to rescue the victims, but
because of the distance between the scene of
crime and Isiopkpo, they had hung condemned
tyres on their necks, while some others were
with dog, hounding them.”
“The crowd they met on the scene when they
arrived were shouting ‘kill them, kill them.
Before the police could rescue them, they had
already poured petrol on them and lit fire,” he
told the court.
Ezeji said photographs of the remains of the
deceased and the streets on which they were
paraded naked were taken during the
investigation.
He added that extracts from the video clips of
the killing, posted on the internet, formed part
of the exhibits attached to the case file
submitted to the prosecution. The internet
clips were concealed in a CD plate.
Efforts by the prosecution to tender copies of
the photographs and thier negative copies as
exhibits were objected to by 10 of the 12
defendants.
The court fixed the ruling on the admissibility
of the exhibits for later date.
Midway into the hearing, the court allowed
time to hear applications for bail of each of
the accused persons.
All the 12 accused persons in their
independent applications urged the court to
admit them to bail. They told Mr. Justice
Nyordee that bail is their constitutional right
irrespective of the gravity of the offence they
were alleged to have committed.
They noted that they were presumed innocent
until proven otherwise.
The fifth accused person, 16-year-old Abiodun
Yusuf, urged the court to grant him bail,
considering his age.
His counsel, G.B.Sanusi, told the court that
Yusuf, being a minor, was not supposed to be
tried together with other accused persons in
the open court.
In their applications, counsel for the second
set of defendants, including the Aluu monarch,
Alhaji Hassan Welewa, urged the court to grant
them bail, saying their offences carry lighter
punishment of two years, if convicted.
They argued that they had already spent close
to one year in detention.
They were charged with negligent, to wit felony
to prevent murder, crime and misdemeanour.
The prosecution objected to the bail
applications and urged the court to dismiss
their applications for lack of merit.
Mr. Godwins averred that bail was at the
discretion of the court but insisted that due to
the serious nature of the offence the accused
are charged with, it would be unusual for any
court to consider granting them bail, without
convincing reasons.
On the first set of accused persons (first to
eighth) who were charged with murder, the
prosecution said: “It is unusual to contemplate
to admit a person charged with murder to bail.
This is because murder is a very serious
offence. For them to be granted bail, they
must show cogent reasons to be granted bail.
And it must be on the grounds of health.
“In this one, none of them has given any
serious reason to be admitted to bail,” he
insisted.
He noted that although the offences the
second set of accused (ninth to tenth), were
charged with are not capital in nature,
“however, even in the simplest of offence,
bails are not just granted; the decision is
strictly at the discretion of the court.”
“The ninth accused person (Alhj. Welewa), is
the paramount ruler of Aluu, the scene of
crime. He has much influence in his
community and most of our witnesses come
from there; if he is granted bail, he will use his
influence to negatively affect the cause of
justice in this matter.
“Moreover, some of the accused persons in
this case are still at large, and they live there;
so granting him bail will seriously affect the
prosecution of this case,” Godwins submitted.
Eighteen suspects were originally held in
connection with the killing. The DPP advice last
February exonerated seven.
The prosecution added John Ayuwu (aka Johny
Barbar) to bring the number of those on trial
to 12.
They were arraigned before the court last
month with each of the accused pleading not
guilty to the charges of murder and felony to
prevent crime, preferred against them. The
court adjourned till yesterday for bail
application.
It was somewhat rowdy yesterday, following
the sudden change in the original agreement at
the last sitting.
The court at the last session adjourned for
motion for bail, but at the resumed sitting
yesterday, the prosecution mounted a
projector screen to express its readiness to
open the case..
He insisted that the PW1 was in court and that
the court could begin hearing the matter and
midway, motion for bail taken. After some
arguments, the court agreed with the
prosecution against the wish of the defence.
The case was adjourned till October 17 for
ruling. The courts in Rivers are to begin their
yearly vacation on Monday.
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