A High Court in Asaba, Delta State, has sentenced Onuwa Oliseh Ijie to death for the ritual killing of seven-year-old twin boys, Chidalu and Chigozie Agwunobi.
The court, presided over by Justice Onome Marshal-Umukoro, also sentenced Onuwa’s accomplice, Nwanozie Uzor, to 14 years in prison for conspiracy to commit the murder. Both convicts are relatives of the deceased twins.
The prosecution, led by Deputy Director in the Ministry of Justice Mrs. Paula Akpoguma, called five witnesses to prove the case.
A news release issued on Tuesday, July 16, by the state Ministry of Justice’s Public Relations Officer, Onoriode Etatsemi, revealed that the court found the testimonies of the five witnesses sufficient to prove the case against the two defendants beyond a reasonable doubt.
The prosecution reported that on March 5, 2020, a tragedy befell the family of Olise Agwunobi from Oko-Ogbele Community. The defendants lured the family’s seven-year-old twin boys into a bush, where they severed the boys’ penises, eyes, tongues, and hands. They then immediately took these body parts to a native doctor in Aguleri, Anambra State.
She stated that one of the defendants had previously attempted to take the twin children from their school but was refused by the school teacher, Mrs. Emelda Ezekwude.
In his judgment, Justice Marshal-Umukoro declared that, upon thoroughly reviewing the evidence, the prosecution had met the burden of proof. He noted that the first defendant, through his confession, had planted the idea of committing human rituals in the second defendant’s mind by providing the phone number of Chukwudi Edemuzor, who was reportedly searching for twins to kill for money.
The court affirmed that, according to established law, the testimony of an investigating police officer is not considered hearsay evidence and can be relied upon by the court.
After the judgment on Tuesday, the prosecuting counsel, Akpoguma, spoke with journalists, expressing gratitude to the court for upholding justice and reaffirming that the judicial system works.
