By Emmanuel Ntekim
Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo has sentenced a soldier and armed robbers to death by hanging for robbing tricycle operators, popularly known as keke riders, at gunpoint in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.
The soldier who is Lance Corporal in the 6 Battalion, Nigerian Army, Ibagwa Barracks, in Abak Local Government Area, Promise Okokon Usoro, a 41 year-old native of Ikot Osom in Abak, armed with AK-47, was found guilty of robbing one Peter Daniel Okon of his tricycle along Idoro Road, Uyo, on the night of February 10, 2013, at gunpoint.
He had earlier faced a court-martial, resulting in his dismissal from the army before being handed over to the Nigeria Police for prosecution.
In his confessional statement, Usoro admitted participating in at least three armed robbery operations targeting tricyclists in Uyo, alongside an accomplice identified as JJ, who is currently at large.
He confessed that one of the stolen tricycles was sold by JJ, and he received a share of ₦50,000 from the proceeds.
The second convict, Odinaka Emmanuel Victor, 32 years old from Osisioma in Abia State, also confessed to robbing another victim, Anyanwu Chidi Francis, on February 14, 2013, along Ikot Ekpene Road, Uyo, while armed with an AK-47 rifle in the company of the dismissed soldier.
Odinaka revealed in his extrajudicial statement that he had been involved in tricycle snatching operations in Port Harcourt, led by one Engr. Obuigwe.
He said that on February 10, 2013, he was contacted by a gang member named James, who brought him to Uyo in a Passat car for an operation.
They reportedly picked up the soldier at the barracks and proceeded to rob a tricyclist.
Odinaka was later arrested with the stolen tricycle, while the others fled.
The duo stood trial alongside a third accused person, Ndifreke Willie Udo, a 37-year-old native of Odoro Ikot in Essien Udim Local Government Area, who was residing in Port Harcourt at the time of the incident.
Delivering judgment twelve years after the crime, the trial judge, Justice Archibong Archibong held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt against Lance Corporal Usoro and Odinaka Victor.
However, the court discharged and acquitted the third defendant, Ndifreke Udo, for lack of sufficient evidence linking him to the crime.
The court consequently sentenced the two convicted men, Promise Okokon Usoro and Odinaka Victor to death by hanging.
