Justice has finally been served in the case of Corporal Stephen Iweh, the Nigerian soldier who brutally murdered a man that had offered him a lift in 2021.
Iweh, 39, was on Thursday convicted and sentenced by Justice Nkanang of the Uyo High Court on a three-count charge of murder, armed robbery, and unlawful possession of firearms. He was sentenced to death by hanging for murder, death by hanging for armed robbery, and 10 years’ imprisonment for unlawful possession of firearms.
The tragic incident occurred in October 2021 when 42-year-old Christopher Enobong Jimmy, a Manager of a Clearing and Forwarding Company in Port Harcourt, offered Iweh a ride from Trailer Park in Onne, Rivers State, to Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom State. Along the journey, at Oboro Junction in Ikot Abasi, Iweh shot Jimmy dead and fled with his Grey Toyota Matrix car and other valuables.
Investigations later revealed that the soldier, a father of three, had unlawfully kept an AK-47 rifle, which he claimed to have picked up in Dambou, Borno State, in 2018 as his “personal arms.” He was eventually tracked to Andy Guest House in Ukanafun, where he was arrested and the rifle recovered.
The conviction brings a measure of closure to the family of the late Jimmy. His 34-year-old widow, Arit, tearfully recounted how her husband had set out from Port Harcourt to visit his sister in Ikot Abasi but never returned home.
The judgment has been hailed as a strong signal against abuse of power and the misuse of firearms by security personnel.