Ex-Soldier Sentenced To Death By Hanging For Murdering Traveller

An Akwa Ibom State High Court in Uyo has sentenced a dismissed soldier, Corporal Stephen
Iweh, formerly of the Nigerian Army’s 6 Battalion, Ibagwa in Abak, to death by hanging for the
murder of a traveller who had kindly given him a lift.

During the Friday judgment, Justice Bassey Nkanang found that the prosecution had proved,
beyond reasonable doubt, that Iweh, aged 39, murdered Christopher Enobong Jimmy, aged 42,
and robbed him of his Toyota Matrix while wielding an unauthorized AK-47 rifle.
The incident took place on May 23, 2021, along the East-West Road in Ikot Abasi LGA of Akwa
Ibom. Jimmy, a manager with a clearing and forwarding company in Port Harcourt, had given
Iweh a free ride from Trailer Park, Onne (Rivers State) to Ikot Abasi (Akwa Ibom).

At Oboro Junction, Ikot Abasi, the soldier, while dressed in uniform and in possession of an AK-
47 he reportedly obtained in Dambou, Borno State, in 2018, shot Jimmy in the head and fled
with his car, Toyota Matrix and other belongings.
Investigations revealed that Iweh had abandoned his duty post at the Army Store in Abak. He
was eventually located and arrested at Andy Guest House in Ukanafun, and the rifle was
recovered.

The convict had joined the Army in 2002 and is a father of three.
On a three-count charge, the court handed the following sentences:

1. Death by hanging — for murder
2. Death by hanging — for armed robbery
3. Ten years imprisonment — for unlawful possession of firearms.
   

Iweh’s plea for leniency was denied. The victim’s widow, Arit Jimmy, aged 34, wept in court as
she recounted how her husband left Port Harcourt to visit a sister and never returned. The tragic
case has drawn public sympathy, highlighting how an act of goodwill ended in a devastating
loss.

By Oyinkansola Shittu.

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