A High Court sitting in Abakaliki, the capital of Ebonyi State, has sentenced a 30-year-old man, Boniface Abraham Edigbo, to death by hanging for the murder of an 18-year-old senior secondary school student, Ogbonna Joshua, after the teenager reportedly exposed their sexual relationship.
The judgement, delivered over the weekend by Justice Ruth Okeh, followed the conviction of Edigbo for poisoning the student, who had begun experiencing anal complications and disclosed the relationship to his school principal and fellow students.
According to court proceedings, Edigbo and the deceased had been in a relationship since 2021 and had, in 2023, entered into a pact not to reveal it to anyone. However, when Joshua began suffering health problems linked to the relationship, he broke the silence, prompting Edigbo to plot his death.
On the night of Monday, 22 May 2023, Edigbo lured the student to Edigbo Guest House where they lodged. The following morning, Tuesday 23 May, he mixed Sniper insecticide with a Fanta drink and gave it to Joshua, who died shortly after consuming it.
Following the incident, Edigbo reportedly informed a woman of the boy’s death and explained that he had not intended to kill him but reacted out of fear after the secret became public. The woman pretended to assist him but instead alerted community youths, who apprehended Edigbo and led him back to the hotel. There, they found Joshua’s lifeless body in room 006.
The 18-year-old senior secondary school student victim was until his death a student of Community Secondary School, Amachi, in Izzi Local Government Area.
Prosecuting counsel, Mrs Ijeoma Mike-Ajanwachukwu, commended the judgement, describing it as a warning to others engaged in similar criminal behaviour.
