Chidiebere Okoroafor, the head pastor of a new generation church, was found guilty of many murders and was sentenced to death by hanging by a high court in Port Harcourt.
The General Overseer of the Altar of Solution and Healing Assembly, Pastor Okoroafor, of Oyigbo, Rivers State, was on trial for the murder of Orlunma Nwagba, his choir mistress, whom he is accused of having impregnated.
He was also charged with murder in the deaths of Chigozie Ezenwa, a friend of Orlunma, and her 11-month-old daughter Cresabel on December 11, 2017, in the Rivers State local government of Oyigbo.
The trial judge, S.O. Benson, concluded that the pastor committed the crime based on the evidence and his confessional remarks.
Justice Benson ruled that the prosecution had sufficiently established the cleric’s guilt of murder and that he should either be executed by hanging him from a tree until he dies or by being given a lethal injection, which also kills more quickly.
According to a Punch report, the pastor tricked the women into a bush and allegedly committed the crime in two different locations after they had visited his home in Oyigbo to discuss the claimed pregnancy.
On December 17, 2017, men from the Rivers State Police Command detained Pastor Okoroafor in response to a concern Chigozie’s spouse had expressed regarding the murder of three people in two separate incidents in the Oyigbo LGA.
Precious Ordu, the prosecution attorney from the state Ministry of Justice, expressed her satisfaction over the verdict in a statement to reporters outside the courtroom.
Ordu expressed joy that justice had prevailed despite the fact that the prosecution had received numerous threats throughout the trial.
Justice has been done for the state, the complainant, and the convicted, he declared.
Because it is justice for all, this will serve as a deterrent to those who want to do the same crime.
Ordu expressed her gratitude to the International Federation of Women Lawyers for raising the issue prior to the state taking over.
Dr. Innocent Ekwu, the defendant’s attorney, has stated that he and his team will appeal the decision because they believe the court “misconceived the law.”
The court determined that there were no eyewitnesses at all throughout the trial, according to Ekwu. The court determined that there was no indirect evidence connecting the defendant to the crime.
But due to his confessional remarks, the court found him guilty of murder.
“We have chosen to appeal the case as the defendant’s attorneys. We have reasons to suspect that the defendant did not commit the crime, so we will file our notice of appeal as soon as we can.
“And that both the facts and the law were misunderstood by the trial court.”
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