SaharaReporters reported on Wednesday that Justice Kenneth Okpe of Enugu State High Court convicted Ifezue of murder and sentenced her to death by hanging.
The killer of Ms. Ijeoma Nneke, a Nigerian make-up artist, Chiamaka Ifezue who was sentenced to death by hanging on Wednesday paid a pharmacist that supplied the drug used in the commission of the murder £100 to keep quiet during the trial.
SaharaReporters reported on Wednesday that Justice Kenneth Okpe of Enugu State High Court convicted Ifezue of murder and sentenced her to death by hanging.
Chiamaka and her brother, Chukwuemeka Ifezue, were arraigned before the court in 2021 on two counts bordering on conspiracy and murder.
During the trial, Justice Okpe discharged Chukwuemeka of the crime, saying there was no evidence linking him to the crime.
However, speaking with SaharaReporters in an interview, the prosecution counsel from the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Ms. Chinelo Chigbo, welcomed the judgement.
She said that the prosecution relied on the doctrine of last seen to prosecute the case, adding that the late make-up artist was last seen with Ifezue.
According to the counsel, the convict "offered the pharmacist she bought a drug she used in killing Ms Nneke from, £100 to silence him”.
Chigbo said “unfortunately for Ifezue, the pharmacist collected the money and still testified against her in the court."
Chigbo said the defendant was charged with murder, which is contrary to section 274 of the Criminal Code laws of Enugu State.
“The defendant was charged with murder and what we relied on was the doctrine of last seen because Ifezue was actually seen with the deceased prior to her death," the DPP lawyer said.
She said that the defendant (convict) was brought to court to tell the court how the late make-up artist was killed.
“What we established in the court is that she was last seen and the circumstances linking her alone, which point irresistibly to the conclusion that the defendant is the one who killed the late Nneke," she said.
The counsel said the defendant had an MTN number but didn’t use that line to call the make-up artist before the incident.
According to her, the convict planned the murder.
The counsel said Ifezue had instructed their domestic help to register a SIM card in his name.
"That was the SIM card she used in making the call, claiming to be Nkiru.
“That evidence was tendered before the court, and even when she was making a claim that it is one Nkiru; but unfortunately, she was not able to get that Nkiru.
“The prosecution had to write to 9mobile, the network providing the SIM card and they gave us everything showing that the SIM card was registered by the house boy (domestic help) and not Nkiru,” the counsel said.
Reacting to the judgment, the elder sister of the late make-up artist, Aku Nneke said her family was happy and satisfied with the ruling.
She added that justice had been served to the suspect.
Nneke said, "Though the death sentence will not bring back my sister, the judgment is a huge consolation for our family, who have been in mourning over her gruesome murder.”
She stressed that the ruling has renewed her hope and trust in the saying that the ‘court is the last hope of the common man’.