Man jailed five years over niece’s death

A Lagos High Court in Ikeja on Friday sentenced Thank-God Ukwueze to five years imprisonment over the death of his niece on Jan 17, 2004 in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Though 27-year-old Ukwueze was charged with the murder of Nkiru Iruka, the trial judge, Justice Adebisi Kayode-Ogunmekan, held that the facts and circumstances of the case made it more appropriate to convict the accused of a lesser offence of manslaughter.

Kayode-Ogunmekan said though the accused person’s action caused the death of Nkiru, he probably acted to scare the deceased.

After entertaining the allocutus (plea for mercy) by the defence lawyer, Ngozi Okeke, she sentenced Nkwueze to five years imprisonment, which according to the judge, excludes the eight years he had spent in prison.

Kayode-Ogunmekan said, “Although the accused has been charged with the offence of murder, I’m of the view that a lesser charge is appropriate considering the facts and circumstances of this case.

“I hereby find the accused person guilty of a lesser offence of manslaughter, which attracts the maximum sentence of life imprisonment. I sentence the accused to five years imprisonment, which excludes the years he has spent in prison since his remand on Jan 19, 2004.”

An elated Ukwueze, who had probably expected to be sentenced to death for murder, waved his hands inside the dock in appreciation of the lighter punishment passed on him.

The prosecution had alleged that Ukwueze murdered Nkiru, who was then 22 years old, by hitting her head with a pestle and then throwing her down from a three-storey building in Ikoyi.

In the statement he was said to have made to the police on Jan 19, 2004 upon his arrest, Ukwueze admitted that he rushed into the kitchen to bring a pestle while they were struggling with each other for “something” tied like a Bible.

He, however, added in the said statement that he did not hit Nkiru with the pestle but that he rather broke the window with it, upon which the deceased ran towards the balcony and jumped down.

But in his oral evidence during trial, Ukwueze said he did not know how the deceased slipped from the third floor of the storey building, saying that he only became aware of the incident through the noise of those who witnessed it.

The judge held that his testimony in court was a lie to cover up his track.

As to whether the action of the accused was responsible for the death of the deceased, the judge held that if he had not brought out the pestle, there would not have been any reason for the deceased to jump down.

She said, “He probably acted to scare the deceased, though in an unlawful way, but in the process, the accused person caused the death of the deceased.”

Kayode-Ogunmekan said the prosecution was able to prove the ingredients of murder, including the fact that there was death and that the action and omission of the accused person led to the death or caused a grievous bodily harm on the deceased.