Apo Killing: Court Sentences 2 to Death, Acquits 3 Others

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Thursday, March 9th, 2017

ABUJA, NIGERIA (AFRICAN EXAMINER) – A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced to death two out of three policemen who killed six Igbo auto spare parts traders in Apo area of FCT.

The convicted officers were: Ezekiel Achejene and Emmanuel Baba. The third convict, Othman Abdulsalam has since been at large from the start of the trial.

The sad incident occurred in the early hours of June 8, 2005. Those killed were Ifeanyi Ozo, Chinedu Meniru, Isaac Ekene, Paul Ogbonna, Anthony Nwokike and Tina Arebun.

While he convicted the culpable defendants, Presiding Judge Justice Ishaq Bello Thursday, acquitted and discharged another three policemen, including a former Deputy Commissioner of Police, Danjuma Ibrahim, Nicholas Zakaria and Sadiq Salami, who were prosecuted and tried with Achejene and Baba.

Justice Bello held that Achejene and Baba were sentenced to death over the killing of two out of the six late traders.

They held that the two in their statements confessed that they were directed to kill the victims.

However, the Judge ruled that the retraction of the statements during oral evidence was an afterthought, therefore could not be relied upon.

Justice Bello further ruled that there was nothing in the police investigation that implicated the acquitted.