A Federal Capital Territory High Court in Zuba has sentenced a dismissed Inspector of Police, Haruna Ocheni, to 30 years imprisonment for killing a 17-year-old boy.
The police charged the Inspector, who was jailed on Friday, with culpable homicide, not punishable by death.
Delivering judgment, Justice Kezziah Ogbonnaya held that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt, saying that Ocheni did not have a legitimate reason to be in the deceased’s house at the time of the incident.
Ogbonnaya said as an Inspector of over 29 years in service, he ought to know the rules of his profession.
She said: “He did not deny using the rifle and confirmed the release of two bullets from it.
“The shots were fired with the knowledge that it could lead to death.”
Earlier, the deceased’s father, Gabriel Chikezie, while being led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Adama Musa, told the court that Ocheni shot and killed his son.
Chikezie said his deceased son stole a generator from his home in Kubwa, Abuja on March 15, 2020 and he decided to call his neighbour, “Pastor Ocheni, to help me with a policeman to recover the generator”.
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He said he contacted Ocheni, who came to his house with a rope, tied both of his son’s hands and dragged him.
He added that while his son resisted, Ocheni hit him on the head with a weapon and then shot him.
Chikezie further said that he took his son to Kubwa General Hospital, where he was confirmed dead.
