REPORTER: UCHE NDEKE
An Anambra State High Court in, Awka presided over by Justice Okechukwu Nwabunike, has convicted and sentenced one Silas Uwa to life imprisonment for the murder of his uncle, Mr. Nweke Eziokwu, over a family land dispute in Ebenebe, Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The court was informed that the defendant and the deceased were contesting ownership of a parcel of land and that their kindred had earlier adjudged the land to belong to the late Nweke Eziokwu.
The defendant and his siblings rejected the decision but failed to seek redress in court.
On the day of the incident, Silas Uwa allegedly accosted the deceased on his farm while he was working, engaged him in a fight and killed him by butchering him with a machete.
During the trial the prosecution, led by Chief State Counsel Ifeanyi Oguejiofor , called four witnesses, including the Investigating Police Officer.
In the final submission the defence raised a plea of self-defence and argued that the prosecution failed to prove the offence of murder beyond reasonable doubt, contending that there was no eye-witness account.
Delivering his judgment, Justice Nwabunike held that guilt in a murder trial can be proved by direct eye-witness evidence, confessional statement or circumstantial evidence.
The court further held that, notwithstanding the absence of direct eye-witness evidence, the prosecution proved through credible circumstantial evidence proved that the defendant killed the deceased.
Reacting to the judgment, the Secretary of the Law Officers Association of Nigeria, Anambra State Chapter, Nonso Emeka, said the case underscores the directive of the Anambra Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Tobechukwu Nweke, that disputants should seek civil remedies through actions for declaration of title to land rather than resort to self-help or the criminalisation of civil claims.
