An Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo has sentenced a dismissed soldier, Corporal Stephen Iweh, to death by hanging for the murder of 42-year-old Christopher Enobong Jimmy, Manager of a Clearing and Forwarding Company in Port Harcourt.
Delivering judgment, Justice Bassey Nkanang found Iweh guilty on a three-count charge of murder, armed robbery, and unlawful possession of firearms. He was sentenced to death by hanging on the first two counts and given 10 years’ imprisonment on the third.
The crime occurred on May 23, 2021, along the East-West Road in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area. Court records show that Jimmy had offered Iweh—dressed in full military uniform—a lift from Trailer Park in Onne, Rivers State, to Ikot Abasi. At Oboro Junction, Iweh shot Jimmy dead, fled with his grey Toyota Matrix, and stole other valuables.
Investigations later revealed that Iweh, a father of three from Ameke Nkor in Ngor Okpala LGA of Imo State, had abandoned his duty post at the Army Store, 6 Battalion, Ibagwa, Abak, on the day of the murder. He was eventually tracked down to Andy Guest House in Ukanafun, where he was arrested. An AK-47 rifle was recovered from him—a weapon he admitted to having illegally kept since picking it up in Dambou, Borno State, in 2018.
During allocutus, the ex-soldier pleaded for mercy and asked for leniency, but the court rejected his appeal.
The late Christopher Jimmy is survived by his widow, Arit, who told the court in tears that her husband had travelled to Ikot Abasi to visit his sister but never returned.
