Anambra Court Sentences Tricycle Rider to Death Over Fatal “One-Chance” Robbery

(Tricycle Rider. Photo by NigeriaWorld)

A commercial tricycle rider named Makua Ezike was found guilty of killing Jude Onwuegbuchunam, an indigenous person from Umuoji in the state’s Idemili North Local Government Area, and was sentenced to death by hanging by a High Court in Anambra State presided over by Justice Lauretta Oyeka.

The offense was committed on November 17, 2019, along the Oba-Obosi-Nkpor-Umuoji Road, according to the charge sheet that our correspondent was able to get on Monday.

Along with other gang members, Ezike allegedly used his tricycle for a “one-chance” robbery.

Onwuegbuchunam was picked up by the defendant and two of his gang colleagues, who are still at large, while pretending to be a commercial tricycle rider and passengers. Halfway during the ride, they tried to rob him of his phone and other belongings.

Ezike and his gang members forced Onwuegbuchunam off of the fast-moving tricycle close to Abidi Hall, Umuoji, where Umuoji Vigilante agents were stationed, after he resisted and sounded the alarm.

It was also said that Ezike abandoned the tricycle and fled with the other members of his gang after the vigilante operators pursued the “one-chance” robbery racket.

According to reports, he went back the following day to the location where he had left the tricycle. The vigilante agents then arrested him and gave him over to the police, where he admitted to the crime.

Onwuegbuchunam, the victim, died two days after suffering severe injuries.

Nonetheless, the prosecution called five witnesses, including the physician who performed Onwuegbuchunam’s post-mortem investigation and attested to the fact that his injuries from the fall were the direct cause of his death.

Justice Oyeka ruled that the law recognizes three paths to conviction: direct eyewitness evidence, confessional statements, and circumstantial evidence, despite the defense’s claim that there was no eyewitness.

However, the judge pointed out that there was a lot of circumstantial evidence in this case, including the abandoned tricycle, Ezike’s willing confession, his absence from the scene, and the medical evidence that connected his actions to the victim’s injuries and death.

As a result, the court found Ezike guilty of murder and mandated that he be hanged.