A High Court in Rivers State has handed down a death sentence by hanging to Damian Chinaemerem Okoligwe, a final-year Petrochemical Engineering undergraduate at the University of Port Harcourt.
The 24-year-old was convicted of murdering his girlfriend, Justina Otuene Nkang, a 20-year-old Biochemistry student at the same institution, in a crime that shocked the university community in October 2023.
Evidence presented during the trial established that Okoligwe invited Justina to his off-campus apartment, where he strangled her to death. He then dismembered the body, removed several organs, and packed the remains into a large travel bag in an attempt to dispose of the evidence.
The gruesome discovery was made after neighbours alerted authorities to a persistent foul smell coming from the room, leading police to break in and find the mutilated corpse on October 25, 2023.
Following his immediate arrest, the case was first brought before a magistrate court, where Chief Magistrate Nnenda Obiageri-Onugbum ordered Okoligwe’s detention at the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre.
The matter was subsequently forwarded to the state Director of Public Prosecutions for legal advice, with proceedings adjourned until mid-December 2023.
After a full trial that examined forensic and circumstantial evidence, the High Court found the defendant guilty on all counts and imposed the maximum penalty.
The verdict has elicited strong reactions from Justina’s family, women’s rights advocates, and the wider public, who have described the killing as a brutal act of gender-based violence. Authorities have reiterated calls for heightened community vigilance while emphasising that the judgment reflects the judiciary’s firm stance against such heinous crimes.
