Law teacher, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a six-year United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking Persons in Africa, Prof. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, has hailed the judgment of the FCT High Court, which sentenced Peter Nwachukwu, husband of the late gospel singer, Osinachi Nwachukwu, to death by hanging.
Describing Justice Njideka Nwosu-Iheme’s verdict as a landmark, Ezeilo, SAN, in a tweet, said the ruling will not only act as a deterrent to potential offenders but also offer hope to victims of gender-based violence.
The tweet reads:
“Justice has finally been served for the late gospel singer Osinachi, as the FCT High Court has convicted and sentenced her husband ( Peter Nwachukwu)for her tragic death in April 2022.
“This landmark ruling not only acts as a deterrent to potential offenders but also offers hope to victims of gender-based violence, encouraging them to break their silence. The mother and the twin sibling, now raising the three children who endured this traumatic experience, deserve unwavering support. Let this victory for justice catalyze change and protection for everyone.”
On 23 January 2003, an Owerri High Court presided over by Justice Njideka’s mother-in-law, Hon. Justice Chioma Nwosu-Iheme, now a justice of the Supreme Court, sentenced seven persons, including Chief Vincent Duru, alias Otokoto and Chief Leonard Unaogu to death, for their involvement in the brutal murder of 11-year-old Ikechukwu Okoronkwo on September 19, 1996, at Otokoto Hotels, Owerri.
Also condemned to death for the same offence were Alban Ajaegbu, Sampson Nnamito, Ebenezer Egwuekwe, Rufus Anyanwu and Lawrence Eboh. In her over three-hour judgment, Justice Nwosu-Iheme described Chief Duru as “a hardened and unrepentant murderer.”
Nwosu-Iheme said she found it extremely difficult to believe the stories told by Chief Duru to the effect that Chief Unaogu and himself did not know each other before this ugly incident nor ever regarded themselves as close friends.
On 18 May 2018, however, the Supreme Court overturned the verdict.
In her lead judgment, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun held that the circumstantial evidence relied on to convict and sentence the appellant by the lower courts was not sufficient.
