>
A Delta State High Court sitting at Akwukwu-Igbo, Oshimili North local government has sentenced a 24-year-old man, Vincent Okwekwu, to death by hanging after he was found guilty of robbing his victims of a mobile telephone and N10, 000 cash while armed with a gun.
Okwekwu had in November 2009 in conjunction with two others still at large, reportedly broke into the flats of one Ofoyeju Peter and Tietie Moses at Umueha quarters, Ibusa, also in Oshimili North Local Council and robbed them of cash amounting to N10, 000 and a mobile phone while armed with a gun and a cutlass.
He was arrested after the victims’ alarm attracted members of the vigilante group in the area. His gang members escaped while he was unlucky.
Okwekwu who was later handed over to the police was said to have admitted to have committed the crime in his voluntary statement.
He however denied the charge in court, pleading not guilty to all the three count charge.
He was convicted of the offence of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, the substantive offence of armed robbery, which was reduced to a lesser offence of robbery.
The young accused who looked dejected after the judgment was, however, sentenced to death by hanging for the offence of conspiracy while he got 21 years jail term for each of the other two counts.