The Delta State High Court sitting at Asaba has sentenced Inspector Ubi Ebri of the Delta State Police Command to death for murder.
The court presided over by Justice C. D. Diai on Tuesday convicted and sentenced Ebiri to death for killing a phone dealer, Mr Onyeka Ibeh, in Asaba.
Ibeh, a popular phone dealer in Asaba, was shot dead on April 5, 2023, at a police checkpoint along Ugbolu road in front of his pregnant wife.
The couple was flagged down by the police team for a search. The deceased waited in his car to be attended to but when the officers were not forthcoming he decided to drive away.
The police inspector immediately opened fire into the vehicle and the bullet hit the late Ibeh on the head. Sadly, he died on the spot.
The killing of the phone dealer led to protests by youths along the streets of Asaba and to police headquarters to demand justice.
The prosecution, led by a director in the Ministry of Justice, Mr E.H. Edema, disclosed that the defendant was part of a police patrol team that mounted a stop and search exercise on April 5, 2023, along the Ugbolu Asaba Road in the state capital.
Speaking to journalists after the judgement, Edema said; “Today’s judgement is a landmark judgement because justice has been served in this case to the deceased and society at large.”
The elder brother of the deceased, Mr Ifeanyi Ibeh, who witnessed the judgement, also commended the court for delivering justice to his family.
