A Awka High Court on Monday sentenced a man, Silas Uwa, to life imprisonment for killing his uncle, Mr Nweke Eziokwu, over a land dispute.
Delivering judgment, Justice Okechukwu Nwabunike held that murder could be established through direct eyewitness evidence, a confessional statement or circumstantial evidence.
The trial judge held that although there was no direct eyewitness account, the prosecution had established through credible circumstantial evidence that the Uwa killed the deceased.
The judge also rejected the plea of self-defence.
Earlier, Mr Ifeanyi Oguejiofor, Chief State Counsel told the court that Uwa and the deceased had an altercation over ownership of a parcel of land in Ebenebe, Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra.
The prosecution said that Eziokwu’s kinsmen agreed that the land belonged to him, a decision that Uwa and his siblings rejected.
The prosecution said rather than seek legal redress, Uwa attacked his uncle and hacked him to death.
The prosecution called four witnesses, including the investigating police officer, to establish its case.
The defence raised the plea of self-defense and argued that the prosecution failed to prove murder beyond reasonable doubt, citing the absence of an eyewitness account.
