Justice Okechukwu A. Nwabunike of the High Court 4, Awka Judicial Division, has convicted and sentenced one Silas Uwa of Ebenebe, Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State, to life imprisonment for killing his uncle, Mr. Nweke Eziokwu, over a family land dispute.
Angel Network News (ANN) gathered that the defendant and the deceased were engaged in a dispute over ownership of a parcel of land in Ebenebe.
The matter had earlier been adjudicated by their kindred, which ruled that the disputed land belonged to the deceased, Nweke. However, the defendant and his siblings were dissatisfied with the decision but did not approach the court to challenge it.
According to evidence before the court, the defendant later accosted the deceased while he was working on his farm, engaged him in a fight and killed him by cutting him with a machete.
In proof of its case, the prosecution, led by Chief State Counsel, Ifeanyi Oguejiofor, Esq., called four witnesses, including the Investigating Police Officer.
The defence, however, raised the plea of self-defence and argued that the prosecution failed to establish the charge of murder beyond reasonable doubt, particularly in the absence of an eyewitness to the killing.
Delivering judgment, Justice Nwabunike held that guilt in a murder trial could be established through direct eyewitness testimony, a confessional statement or circumstantial evidence.
The court found that, despite the absence of direct eyewitness evidence, the prosecution had established through credible circumstantial evidence that the defendant killed the deceased.
Justice Nwabunike also held that the plea of self-defence was not available to the defendant in the circumstances of the case.
Reacting to the judgment, the Secretary of the Law Officers Association of Nigeria, Anambra State Chapter, Barrister Nonso Emeka, said the case underscored the directive of the Anambra State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Tobechukwu Nweke, SAN.
He said disputants in land matters should seek civil remedies, including actions for declaration of title, rather than resorting to self-help or turning civil disputes into criminal matters.
