A Bayelsa State High Court sitting in Yenagoa has sentenced a 28-year-old man, Joseph Fekala, to death by hanging for the murder of 25-year-old Kate Oguoh.
Fekala was arrested in July 2022 after investigations revealed that he strangled the young woman to death during a dispute over ₦50,000 she had earlier given to him. The convict was further found to have secretly buried her body inside his room in Okaka area of Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
After a trial that lasted three years, the presiding judge, Justice Ineikade Eradiri, found Fekala guilty on three of the four charges brought against him by the prosecution. The court convicted him of murder, misconduct in the handling of a corpse, and unlawful burial in an unlicensed place, all contrary to the Bayelsa State Criminal Code. He was, however, acquitted of the charge of stealing.
In a ruling that spanned about three hours and was delivered over the weekend, Justice Eradiri rejected the defence’s claims of insanity, provocation, and self-defence. The judge held that the defendant failed to prove insanity, noting that the two witnesses presented by the defence did not establish that Fekala was mentally unstable at the time of the offence.
The court further ruled that exhibits tendered and admitted during the trial showed that the defendant was fully aware of his actions and in control when the crime was committed. Justice Eradiri also dismissed the plea by defence counsel for a conviction on the lesser offence of manslaughter, stating that the charge of murder could not be substituted.
“The plea for a lesser offence cannot be sustained. After reviewing the evidence before the court, I find no basis to convict the defendant for manslaughter,” the judge ruled. “I therefore find the accused guilty of counts one, two and three.”
Justice Eradiri stated that the prosecution successfully proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and directed the court registrar to formally inform the defendant of his conviction on the three counts.
During his allocution, Fekala knelt in the dock and appealed for mercy, describing himself as a Christian and peace-loving individual. He pleaded with the family of the deceased and the court to forgive him for the crime.
However, while delivering the sentence, Justice Eradiri noted that the law left him with no discretion in cases of murder.
“For murder, I have no discretion. The punishment prescribed under Section 247 of the Criminal Code of Bayelsa State is death,” the judge declared. “I hereby sentence you to death by hanging until you are dead. May God have mercy on your soul.”
Reacting to the judgment, the parents of the deceased, Mr and Mrs Theophilus Oguoh, expressed satisfaction with the verdict, commending the judiciary for what they described as firmness and justice.
