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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder |
Sentence: |
Death |
Years Imprisoned: |
21.67 |
Year Crime: |
1996 |
Year Convicted: |
2003 |
Year Cleared: |
2018 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Nigeria |
County or Region of Crime: |
Imo |
City of Crime: |
Owerri |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Alban Ajaegbu and Ebenezer Egwueke were codefendants wrongly convicted in February 2003 of being among seven defendants involved in the murder of 11-year-old Ikechukuwu Okoronkwo in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria on September 19, 1996. Okoronkwo was hawking groundnuts when he was lured into the Otokoto Hotel in Owerri where he was drugged and ritualistically killed. Okoronkwo's head was decapitated, his penis was amputed, and internal organs were removed before he was buried in a shallow grave at a farm near the hotel. The crime was discovered soon after it occurred because one of the participants -- Innocent Ekeanyanwu -- left the hotel carrying the head in a polythene bag to deliver it to his uncle who wanted it. The taxi driver saw the fresh human head, and contacted the police after they arrived at the delivery destination. While the driver was giving Ekeanyanwu a ride back to the hotel his taxi was stopped by the police and Ekeanyanwu was arrested. Ekeanyanwu confessed and implicated a number of his confederates. The discovery of the killing of Okoronkwo sparked rioting and property destruction by enraged residents of Owerri that lasted for days. Among the defendants was the hotel's owner, Vincent Duru. The case against Ajaegbu was entirely circumstantial: he had worked at the hotel for 17 years, so the prosecution asserted he had to have known that Duru owned the farm where the body was found -- which he denied when questioned by police. In contrast, there was confession evidence by Ekeanyanwu and testimony by some of the defendants against other defendants that supported their prosecutions. The trial of the seven defendants began on December 9, 1996. They were convicted in February 2003 by Owerri High Court Justice Chioma Nwosu-Iheme. They were all sentenced to death. In 2012 Ajaegbu's conviction and death sentence were affirmed by the Court of Appeal in Owerri. In 2013 Nigeria's Supreme Court vacated the conviction of defendant Ebenezer Egwueke on the basis of insufficient evidence to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and ordered his acquittal. Egwueke was 62 when he was released after 16-1/2 years in custody. Ajaegbu's leave to appeal was granted by Nigeria's Supreme Court. On May 18, 2018 the Supreme Court unanimously (5-0) vacated Ajaegbu's conviction on the basis the prosecution introduced insufficient evidence to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and ordered his acquittal. Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun announced in open court her lead ruling that Ajaegbu's conviction and the affirmation of his conviction by he Court of Appeal were based on speculation he was guilty, without any substantive evidence to support that conclusion. The Court's ruling stated: “It must be restated here that the appellant was charged with murder and the prosecution has the burden of proving beyond reasonable doubt that it was the act of the appellant that caused the death of deceased. The appellant does not have the burden to prove his innocence. The lower court held that the defence of the appellant raised a lot of suspicion. The law is well settled that suspicion, no matter how grave, cannot take the place of proof." The Supreme Court also noted the assumption of the trial court and the appellate court was fallacious that because Ajaegbu worked in the hotel for 17 years, he should have known who owned the farm where Okoronkwo was buried: “Suspicion cannot take the place of legal proof. That the appellant worked in the hotel for 17 years and didn’t know who owned the farm cannot make him guilty." Ajaegbu was immediately release from the Port Harcourt Prison after 21 years and eight months in custody. Nigeria's Supreme Court on December 9, 2017 dismissed Duru’s appeal against his conviction and death sentence, that had been affirmed by the Court of Appeal." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Circumstantial case based on speculation. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On May 18, 2018 the Supreme Court unanimously (5-0) vacated Ajaegbu's conviction on the basis the prosecution introduced insufficient evidence to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and ordered his acquittal. The Court ruled that his conviction and the affirmation of his conviction by he Court of Appeal were based on speculation he was guilty, without any substantive evidence to support that conclusion. The Court's ruling stated: “It must be restated here that the appellant was charged with murder and the prosecution has the burden of proving beyond reasonable doubt that it was the act of the appellant that caused the death of deceased. The appellant does not have the burden to prove his innocence. The lower court held that the defence of the appellant raised a lot of suspicion. The law is well settled that suspicion, no matter how grave, cannot take the place of proof. The Supreme court also noted the assumption of the trial court and the appellate court that because Ajaegbu worked in the hotel for 17 years, he should have known who owned the farm where Okoronkwo was buried in was wrong: “Suspicion cannot take the place of legal proof. That the appellant worked in the hotel for 17 years and didn’t know who owned the farm cannot make him guilty."" |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Supreme Court acquits Otokoto suspect Alban Ajaegbu after spending 22 years in jail, By Kess Ewubare, Naija.ng, May 19, 2018" |
Information Location 1: |
https://www.naija.ng/1170428-supreme-court-acquits-otokoto-suspect-alban-ajaegbu-spending-22-years-jail.html#1170428 |
Information Source 2: |
"Otokoto: Supreme Court Frees Ajaegbu After 22yrs, By Paschal Njoku, Independent (Ogba, Ikeja, Nigeria), May 18, 2018" |
Information Location 2: |
https://independent.ng/otokoto-supreme-court-frees-ajaegbu-after-22yrs/ |
Information Source 3: |
Chief Vincent Duru (Alias Otokoto) v S (SC.235/2012)[2016] NGSC 125 (9 December 2016) |
Information Location 3: |
https://nigerialii.org/ng/judgment/supreme-court/2016/125.html |
Information Source 4: |
"Otokoto ritual murder: 20 things to know about convict hanged 20 years after crime, By Jo Daniel, informationng.com, November 26, 2016" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.informationng.com/2016/11/otokoto-ritual-murder-20-things-know-convict-hanged-20-years-crime-2.html |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org