- The court disclosed that the convicted individuals not only murdered the OSPAC commander but were also involved in kidnapping and other criminal activities across the state
In Rivers State, five persons indicted in the murder of one Umezuruike Alex have been sentenced to death.
They were convicted and sentenced on Monday on charges including conspiracy, cultism, murder and illegal possession of firearms by a High Court sitting in Port Harcourt.
Alex, prior to his murder, was Onelga Security Peace Advisory Committee, OSPAC, commander of Omudioga community in Emohua Local Government Area of the state.
OSPAC s a local vigilante group resident in some communities in different local government areas of Rivers State.
The convicts are Okechukwu Orji from Atali community in Obio-Akpor LGA, Igwe Promise, Iheanyi Igwe, Morrison Igwe, all from Omudioga in Emohua Local Government Area, and Goodness Monday from Akwa-Ibom State
The trial Judge, Justice Sika Aprioku, acquitted the sixth defendant, Alex Deiwe.
The prosecution, led by Essein Edet, proved its case against the five convicts, Justice Aprioku affirmed.
Following the conviction, the judge sentenced the convicts to death by hanging, or, alternatively, administration of a lethal injection until confirmed dead.
The court disclosed that the convicted individuals not only murdered the OSPAC commander but were also involved in kidnapping and other criminal activities across the state prior to their arrest and prosecution.
The late Omudioga OSPAC commander, Alex, was brutally murdered and dismembered by cultists in 2021 for his efforts in combating criminal activities in the area