The State High Court 2 sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Monday, sentenced one of the killers of the Executive Secretary of the Bayelsa State Independent Electoral Commission (BYSIEC), Chief Simeon Akpane, to death.
The court convicted Kurotimi Clarkson, 27, an only son, for being a member of the three-man gang that shot and killed Akpane in 2014.
In her judgement, Justice Margaret Akpomiemien said the prosecution team from the Office of the Special Prosecutor on Violent Crimes and other Related Offences, led by Arthur Andrew, established beyond every reasonable doubts that Clarkson committed the offence.
The judge concluded that the plea of alibi by the convict was unattainable because the prosecution proved that Clarkson, a father of two, was present at the crime scene when the victim was killed on the 10th of October 2014.
The judge said that the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) of the mobile phone snatched from the deceased through which the convict was traced, were exactly the same.
Only Clarkson was convicted out of the three suspects while Freedom Allen, who reportedly pulled the trigger, escaped from the federal prisons in Okaka, Yenagoa.
The judge agreed with the testimony of the deceased wife, who heard the voice of her husband on the fateful day arguing with his assailants only to come out to see the victim shot by the assailants.
Recalling the particulars of the case, the judge said that the runaway Allen approached the convict, his friend, and complained about the hardship in the land.
They moved on a tricycle from Biogbolo through Otiotio, where they saw the vehicle of the victim, followed him to his house, before shooting him at close range during an argument.
According to the judge investigations showed that the culprits were traced through the stolen phone which was sold to one Mallam Ibrahim Abubakar for N5, 000.
The judge said: “I have carefully examined the evidence and exhibits. The prosecution has established it’s case. The prosecution has proved that the action of the accused caused the death of the deceased.
“I have carefully considered the fact that he is a first offender. But the court lacks discretion in this case. The sentence of this court is that you be hanged until you be dead. May the lord have mercy on your soul”.
The 48-year-old Akpane, an indigene of Ofoni in Sagbama council area of the state, was shot in the head at close range on October 10, at about 8p.m., in front of his residence at Bethel Church Close, Otiotio Road, Yenezue-Gene, Yenagoa.
Allen, who escaped from custody, according to the Department of State Services (DSS) which first investigated the matter at the time, shot the BSIEC scribe while he was struggling with the other attackers.
Read More: The Nation
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