A Delta State High Court sitting in Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State, has fixed Wednesday, July 29, 2026, for judgment in the trial of three men accused of the kidnapping and murder of Elozino Joshualia Ogege, an undergraduate of Delta State University, Abraka.
The charge, filed in 2019, experienced several delays over the years before the trial concluded.
The Court reserved judgment after counsel in the matter adopted their final written addresses.
Counsel to the 1st Defendant, S. C. Okehielem Esq., urged the Court to discharge and acquit his client, contending that the prosecution failed to establish the offences charged beyond a reasonable doubt.
Counsel to the 2nd Defendant, Cosmas Ogugua Esq., from the Chambers of Olusegun Ajayi, as well as counsel to the 3rd Defendant, Ben Okoh Esq., of the Legal Aid Council, also prayed the Court to discharge and acquit their respective clients.
A fourth Defendant originally charged alongside the others, Robinson Obajero Ojokojo, said to be a native doctor, died during the pendency of the proceedings.
Responding on behalf of the prosecution, the Delta State Solicitor-General, Omamuzo Erebe, SAN, who led Funkekeme Junior Solomon, Principal State Counsel, adopted the prosecution’s final written address and urged the Court to convict the Defendants on all counts.
The prosecution submitted that the evidence presented throughout the trial clearly established the Defendants’ guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Defendants, Macaulay Desmond Oghenemaro, Nwosisi Benedict Uche, and Enaike Onoriode, are standing trial over the alleged kidnapping and murder of Elozino Ogege in November 2018.
The late Elozino, then a 300-level Mass Communication student of Delta State University, Abraka, was reportedly kidnapped and murdered in circumstances alleged by the prosecution to be connected with ritual activities. The incident generated national outrage over the brutal circumstances of her death and drew widespread public attention, particularly within the university community and among women’s rights advocates.
The judgment, expected on July 29, 2026, is anticipated to bring closure to one of Delta State’s most widely followed criminal trials in recent years.
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