By Noah Ocheni, Lokoja
A Kogi State High Court sitting in Ankpa has sentenced five men to death by hanging for the murder of Chief Sylvester Sule, the head of the Akwu community, his brother Owoicho Duke, and one other person. Chief Sule was a retired Navy officer.
The court heard how a long-standing dispute between two ruling families in the Akwu community of Ankpa Local Government over the right to produce the village head led to violent clashes on January 29, 2020.
During the attack, three people were killed, 22 houses were set ablaze, and five vehicles were destroyed in the community.
According to the court, the dispute escalated after the then Ata Igala officially crowned one of the contenders, Sylvester Muhammedu Sule, as the village head on December 29, 2019, at his palace in Idah. A month later, violence erupted, leading to the deaths of the newly crowned chief and two others, along with widespread property destruction.
The trial of the accused began in 2020 and went through three different judges before Justice Seidu Husseini finally delivered the judgment on October 7, 2024.
In his ruling, Justice Seidu Husseini found the accused guilty of criminal conspiracy, arson, and culpable homicide, contrary to sections 97(1), 337, and 221 of the Kogi State Penal Code.
The convicted individuals, identified as Aliyu Amadu Makolo, Yakubu Idaji, Danjuma Yusuf, Mohammed Yusuf, and Muhammed Rilwanu (also known as Dikadi), were found guilty of participating in the violent attack that claimed three lives and caused significant property damage in the community.
Prosecution counsel M. A. Abaji told the court that on January 29, 2020, the accused men, armed with machetes and locally made guns, stormed Akwu community, set properties on fire, and murdered Chief Sule, his elder brother, Owoicho Sule Onuh, and another victim. One of the victims, Owoicho Sule, was dismembered, placed in a sack, and dumped in a well.
Abaji argued that the defendants’ pleas of not guilty were mere denials. He contended that the defendants failed to raise any substantive defense, relying instead on denials and technicalities, which were neither material nor detrimental to the case.
However, the defense counsel, Isaac Ekpa, in his final address, argued that the prosecution had not proven its case beyond reasonable doubt, which should have led to the acquittal of the defendants.
In his judgment, Justice Seidu stated that the prosecution had presented its case beyond all reasonable doubt and that denying the commission of the crime did not absolve the accused from guilt. He emphasized that the burden of proof rested on the defense, which failed to counter the prosecution’s evidence.
“I am fully satisfied with the evidence provided by the prosecution. The prosecution has proven its case beyond reasonable doubt,” the judge said.
“The five defendants (1, 2, 3, 4, and 6) have been found guilty of criminal conspiracy, mischief by fire, and culpable homicide, punishable by death, contrary to sections 97(1), 337, and 221 of the Kogi State Penal Code. I, therefore, sentence them to death by hanging,” he ruled.
Justice Seidu, however, acquitted two other accused persons, Yakubu Ikoja and Abdulmumuni Sale, the 5th and 7th respondents, due to the prosecution’s inability to prove its case against them beyond reasonable doubt.
Meanwhile, the prosecution counsel stated that efforts were ongoing to apprehend additional suspects, including David Adoyi Abah, Tahir Abdul, Solomon Odawn Ogbo, Jibrin Okpanachi, Farouk Okpanachi, and Francis Bala Abonny, who are currently at large.
