Man to die by hanging for killing 18-year-old student in Ebonyi

A High Court sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital, has sentenced a 30-year-old man, Boniface Abraham Edigbo, to death by hanging for the murder of an 18-year-old SS2 student after assaulting the deceased sexually.

The deceased, until his death, was a student at Community Secondary School, Amachi, in Izzi Local Government Area of the state.

The convict killed the deceased, Ogbonna Joshua, on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, by poisoning him in a hotel after their last sexual encounter on the night of Monday, May 22, 2023.

Justice Ruth Okeh found Boniface Abraham Edigbo guilty of the offence and sentenced him to death by hanging.

The prosecuting counsel, Mrs Ijeoma Mike-Ajanwachukwu, hailed the judgement.

She said the judgement will serve as a deterrent to others who have been committing such heinous crimes in society.

It was revealed that their sexual relationship resulted in the deceased experiencing anal problems.

He had been in a relationship with the boy since 2021.

In 2023, they made a covenant not to reveal the relationship to anyone. When the deceased started experiencing anal problems, he reported it to the principal of the school and some students, and the matter became public.

The convict lured the boy to Edigbo Guest House, where they spent the night of Monday, May 22, 2023.

The court was told that on May 23, he brought out a Fanta drink and Sniper insecticide, added the Sniper to the Fanta, and gave it to the boy, who drank it and died.

After the boy died, Edigbo left the hotel, reported the matter to a woman, and explained that he did not intend to kill the boy but acted because the boy revealed their homosexual relationship to others.

The woman told him to wait while she went to get money for him to leave the state, but instead reported the incident to the youths of the community, who apprehended him and took him back to Edigbo Guest House, where they found the boy in room 006 lying lifeless.