Man sentenced to death for murder of 18-year-old student in Ebonyi

A High Court in Abakaliki, the capital of Ebonyi State, has sentenced 30-year-old Boniface Abraham Edigbo to death by hanging for the murder of an 18-year-old secondary school student.

The victim, Ogbonna Joshua, was an SS2 student at Community Secondary School, Amachi, located in the Izzi Local Government Area.

According to court proceedings, Edigbo sexually assaulted the student and subsequently poisoned him in a hotel room on May 23, 2023, following a sexual encounter the previous night.

Presiding over the case, Justice Ruth Okeh ruled that Edigbo was guilty of the crime and handed down the capital punishment of 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.