Man chops off off uncle’s wrist, gets 15 years jail sentence

A 31-year-old man, Sokariba Levi, has been sentenced to to 15 years’ imprisonment by a Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt for chopping off the left wrist of his uncle, Jacob Chuwkwu, TopNaija reports.

The convict reportedly committed the crime on June 18, 2007 in the Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State. Levi was arraigned on three counts bordering on conspiracy, intention to cause grievous harm and inflicting grievous harm on another.

Justice George Omereji found Levi guilty of counts two and three after the prosecuting counsel proved his case beyond doubt. Omereji sentenced him to 10 years’ imprisonment with hard labour for counts two and five years’ imprisonment without hard labour for count three, and ordered that the sentence would run concurrently.

But the defence counsel, E. O. Chinda, said the judgment would be appealed. Meanwhile, a 30-year-old fraudster, Gabriel Oluokun, was on Thursday sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, Oyo State, for defrauding a Taiwanese of $22,300 (about N8.4m).

The convict was prosecuted by the Ibadan Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on amended six counts bordering on obtaining money under false pretences.

According to the commission, one Nduka Lucious alleged that the convict collected the sum from him in three installments on the agreement that he would supply 100 metric tonnes of sesame seeds to one Victoria Xhung, a China-based Taiwanese businesswoman, whom the petitioner (Lucious) represented in Nigeria.

The convict failed to deliver the product as promised and failed to return the money. He was first arraigned on April 6, 2018 and re-arraigned on June 15, 2020 on the amended counts for which he was convicted on Thursday.

The jail terms are to run concurrently but he was discharged and acquitted on counts five and six. Aside the jail term, the convict is to restitute his victim the sum of $22,300 with the caveat that the jail term would be extended by additional two years if he fails to pay the refund.

He also forfeited his Toyota Corolla saloon car to the Federal Government.