The saying that the law is an ass played out recently when a High Court in Rivers State failed to deliver judgment and serve justice over the case involving the dastardly murder of a police inspector
By Chinedu Oguh, Port Harcourt
A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has discharged and acquitted 12 suspects standing trial for alleged murder of a female police inspector, Christian Erekere, bringing an end to the long legal battle. Erekere was attached to the Taaba Police Division in Bori, Khana Local Government Area of the state.
Justice Augusta Kingsley Chukwu, who delivered the judgment on Monday 26, October, 2025 ruled that the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants were responsible for the officer’s death which occurred on April 25, 2025 during a stop and search operation.
The defendants, Efeoghene Uwheraka (the groom) Joy Uwhereka, Shirley Wealth, Napoleon Uwhereka, Ejiro Ejogbamu, Moses Agege, Precious Iysta, Kikelomo Odusanya, Wealth Ojoh, Ighofose Oke, Blessing Ovie and Emeka Joshua were on their to Akwa Ibom State for a wedding when the incident happened.
Tentacle gathered that the confrontation began when officers at the checkpoint questioned the validity of one of the vehicles documents, which allegedly led to alteration resulting in the officer’s collapse and subsequent death.
In her judgment which lasted about three hours, Justice Chukwu stated that the evidence presented by the six prosecution witnesses was contradicting and largely based on hearsay, as none of them would prove that the actions of the defendants led to the death of the deceased which occurred on April 25, 2024, during a Police stop-and-search operation.
Citing the autopsy report, the court stated that it indicated that the deceased may have died from other complications and underlying health conditions including asthma and suffocation, among other factors.
Justice Chukwu described the findings as critical, stressing that the prosecution could not establish any direct causal link between the defendants and the officer’s death.
The court consequently discharged and acquitted all 12 defendants, who had spent 18 months each as compensation for their unlawful detention, a verdict that triggered mixed emotions in court and for which families of the acquitted defendants erupted in jubilation, while relatives of the deceased officer wept openly.
Prosecution counsel Celestine Dickson spoke to Tentacle expressed disappointment over the ruling adding that the police would review the judgment and consider further legal steps.
Speaking further, he said, “Well the court has reviewed facts before it and evidence before it and come to this conclusion that is the position of the court. I will contact the authorities that sent me and review the judgment and look at where the court has done well or has not done well. It is basically for us to sit down with the police authorities and review the judgment before we know how to move forward.
“It is very rare and I’m shocked at the outcome of today’s judgment. A group of travelers moved into a police station and beat up a police officer and the person passed away on the same day and the court will now come to the conclusion that those people should walk away even if the court agrees that certain people engaged with the deceased in the fight in the law courts.”
