By Correspondent in Makurdi
In consonance with the popular saying, in some quarters that the wages of sin is death, seven cousins in Benue state have been sentenced to death by hanging for killing a fellow human being,Vince Ebere.
The convicts, who were said to have connived among themselvesto commit the crime were sentenced by Justice Justice Wilfred Kpochi of the High Court, Otupko are: Elias, Chibueze, Emmanuel, Simon, Patrick and Godwin, all of Ebere family in Enyikpo Ulayi village, Ado Local Government Are of the state.
The Judge convincted Elias and his cousins in the crime for criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide, punishable with death.
The convicts were said to have killed Ebere, using cutlasses and sticks, matcheted and bruised their victim on his head, on December 25, 2012, a development which subsequently led to his death.
Justice Kpochi, in his Judgement, turned down the plea by the defendants, insisting that the punishment for the heinous crime was inevitable, adding that the prosecution had proved its case beyond all reasonable doubt.
He, therefore,sentenced all the accused to death by hanging accordingly.
Reacting to the judgement, the Prosecuting Chief State Counsel, Mr Ada Ocholi, lauded the verdict of the court, adding that it would serve as a deterrent to others.
Ocholi maintained that nobody was permitted to take laws into his or her hands, no matter the circumstance.
The Wife of the deceased, Mrs Felicia Ebere and his brother, Chukwuma also hailed the Court for the judgement and expressed happiness that justice was finally served for the murder of Vincent.
