A Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt has sentenced Damian Okoligwe, a 400-level petrochemical engineering student at University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), to death by hanging for murdering his girlfriend, Justina Nkemenna Otuene, a 300-level biochemistry student at the same university.
Gatekeepers News reports that the crime took place on October 20, 2023, at Okoligwe’s apartment in Mgbuoba, Obio/Akpor LGA, Rivers State.
According to court proceedings, Okoligwe strangled Justina during an argument, then dismembered her body, placed the remains in a bag, and attempted to transport them in a wheelbarrow before neighbours noticed and alerted the police.
Delivering judgement on Friday, presiding Judge Chinwe Nsirim-Nwosu held that the prosecution, led by the Rivers State Ministry of Justice, had established beyond a reasonable doubt all elements of murder: that the victim died, that the death was intentionally caused by the defendant, and that Okoligwe acted with awareness that his actions would result in death.
The judge described the acts as
intentional, composed, calculated, coordinated, and evil, noting that there were no material contradictions in the prosecution’s evidence.
Nsirim-Nwosu ruled, “The defendant is hereby sentenced to death by hanging on the neck until he is confirmed dead.”
Reacting to the ruling, Osatawaji Otuene, elder brother of the deceased, expressed relief and praised the judge for a detailed and well-structured judgement.
He told journalists, “I feel good. It is a relief because at least it is certain that my sister didn’t die for nothing.”
