A High Court sitting in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital on Tuesday sentenced a 36-year-old man to death for armed robbery.
The convict identified as Destiny Okon, who hails from Ikot Andem Itam in the Itu Local Government Area of the state, was sentenced after he was found guilty of robbing the Ubotex warehouse in Ifa, Ikot Ukpon, Uyo, on December 15, 2015.
Okon and two others identified as 40-year-old Ikechukwu Eme, and Nwaigbo Kelechi, 36, were standing trial on three counts of conspiracy, armed robbery and unlawful possession of firearms.
The first accused had confessed to the police that the second accused person, Eme, told him that he had a job to monitor when he took him to Ubotex warehouse in broad daylight and posed as a customer, but returned at night to rob the warehouse.
He claimed that one Musa called him on December 15, 2015, to assist him to keep some Cameroon zinc, which he accepted and took to his father’s house in Okobo, Ibiono Ibom.
In his confession, the convict further stated that Eme, who dealt in scrap items, was invited to buy the zinc, but he (Eme) told Musa that he would not buy the items because they were not scrap, except Musa would provide some receipts.
Delivering the judgement, the presiding judge, Justice Archibong Archibong discharged and acquitted the other accused persons, Eme and Ikechukwu.
Justice Archibong held that “it is obvious that the acclaimed ‘Musa’ is a fictitious person manufactured by the accused person with the aim of misleading the police in the course of investigation.”
The court also held that the story was a ploy to deceive the court into considering that someone else committed the offence of armed robbery, adding that the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The judge, therefore, ruled that the first accused is sentenced to death and “shall die in a manner to be directed by the Akwa Ibom State Governor. May God have mercy on your soul.”
