A Delta State High Court sitting at Akwukwu-igbo yesterday sentenced one Obinna Eze to death by hanging for killing a six-month-old child.

Eze was charged with three counts of attempted murder, murder and causing grievous harm, preferred against him by the Delta State Government.

The state government had charged Eze for killing a six-month-old baby, one Chimaobi Igwe, and causing bodily harm to the child’s mother, Mrs Blessing Igwe.

He pleaded not guilty and trial went on.

However, yesterday, Justice Marcel Okoh found the defendant guilty of all the charge.

Delivering judgment, Justice Okoh held that the prosecution proved its case beyond every reasonable doubt.

He said that evidence provided by the deceased child’s mother, the pathologist, and the confessional statement tendered by the police established the prosecution’s case.

The court, on the other hand, rejected the defendant’s denial in his testimony before the court, and the retraction of his confessional statement.

The court convicted and sentenced him to death by hanging for killing the six-month-old child.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the prosecution was led by the State Solicitor and Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice, Mr Omamuzo Erebe.

He said the convict committed the offences on Oct. 27, 2023, at Talita Street, at Okpanam Road Asaba.

A fire incident has claimed the lives of a husband, his wife, and their grandson, which affected a storey building at Ori-Eru, Idikan area of Ibadan.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the fire incident occurred in the early hours of Friday.

The General Manager, Oyo State Fire Services Agency, Mr Yemi Akinyinka, made this known in a statement made available to newsmen on Friday in Ibadan.

Akinyinka said the personnel of the agency received a distress call about the incident through a call made by one Hassan at exactly 3:46 a.m. on Friday and immediately deployed personnel to the scene.

“On arrival we met an upper floor of a residential storey building of six rooms well alight, and we swiftly swung into action, and the fire was completely extinguished,” he said.

The general manager said three persons made up of a husband, his wife, and their grandson lost their lives in the fire incident while five persons were rescued alive from the building.

According to him, the ground floor of the building and other nearby properties were saved from the inferno.

“From our investigation we discovered that in their attempt to keep their house warm because of the cold weather, they resorted to using naked fire, which resulted in a fire disaster after they had slept off,” he said.

Akinyinka said that a team of policemen led by CSP Olaniyan Jibola from Mapo Division and that of Amotekun led by Mr Gbenga Akinyemi from North West Division were on the ground to prevent breakdown of law and order.

(NAN)

The Lagos State Taskforce has raided 31 Road, part of Okunola road, Wole Omooso, Blessjar, Idoan at the Gowon Estate area of Lagos.Seventeen persons suspected to be engaging in various criminal activities were also arrested.

This is contained in a press statement by its Director, Press & Public Affairs Gbadeyan Abdulraheem.

During the operation, Taskforce officers uncovered a disturbing cache of illicit substances, including Colorado, Indian hemp, narcotic drugs, and other controlled substances including counterfeit currency.

The Chairman of the Lagos State Taskforce, CSP Adetayo Akerele, reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to ridding the state of criminal elements endangering the peace and serenity of the citizenry.

He said the operation reflects the agency’s zero-tolerance policy against illegal activities that threaten the peace and security of communities.