Court sentences man to death for killing Jumia agent over iPhone

BY DANIEL EFE

Rivers State High Court  has found Sodienye Mbatumukeke guilty of the murder of a Jumia delivery agent Chukwuma Eleje in Port Harcourt over iPhone.

Justice Chigozie Igwe also found Mr Mbatumukeke guilty of armed robbery.

Eleme, Jumia agent (wearing jacket)      Sodienye  Mbatumukeke( sentenced to death and Excel Naabee(acquitted).

The accused persons Mbatumukeke and Excel Naabee had been on trial since 2017 on two-count charges of the murder of Eleje and armed robbery.

Sodienye Mbatumukeke(covering his face sentenced to death and Excel Naabee (acquitted).

While the presiding Judge, Chigozie Igwe, discharged and acquitted Mr. Excel Naabee of all the charges, he sentenced the first defendant Mbatumukeke to death by hanging.

The delivery man was killed in March 2017 when he went to deliver items which an online buyer ordered. Police recovered his corpse inside a septic tank.

The duo were first arraigned before the Chief Magistrate Court in Port Harcourt before the case was transferred to the State High Court

Eleje was killed and dumped in a septic tank in March 2017 at Ada George Road in Obio-Akpor local government area,Rivers State, by the two accused, Sodienye Mbatumueke and Excel Naabee. 

The deceased, a Dispatcher for Jumia, was murdered when he went to deliver items such as iPhone and other valuables ordered online by Mbatumueke and his accomplice Excel Naabee. 

Eleje was strangled and his body was dumped in a septic tank. His body was later recovered by Homicide detectives of the Rivers State Police Command

After years of trial, the lawyers for the accused and the state gave their final addresses on Monday, December 7. Justice Chigozie Igwe had reserved judgement today, 15 January 2021.

In his submission, Bonaventure Ugwu, the Lawyer representing Mbatumueke, urged the court to discharge and acquit his client as the prosecution did not prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Lucky Agor, the lawyer to Excel Naabee, also submitted that the court should discharge and acquit his client as the prosecution failed to prove that Naabee was an accomplice in the murder of Chukwuma Eleje.

In a counter submission, the Prosecution Counsel urged the Court to convict the accused as the 42 exhibits and 10 witnesses presented before the court proved their culpability. He said the confessional statement of Mbatumeke proved that he tricked the deceased to come into the compound so he could kill him and collect his valuables.