Two men have bagged the death sentence in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, for killing an eight-year-old girl.

Justice Adolphus Enebeli of a Rivers State High Court on Wednesday sentenced Ifeanyichukwu Maxwell Dike and one Ugochukwu Nwamiro to death by hanging for the murder of  Victory Chikamso.

While the judge ruled that Dike, a 26-year-old of the Department of Physics at the University of Port Harcourt should be hanged on the neck, he ruled that Nwamiro should be hanged on his legs until he was certified dead.

WuzupNigeria reports that Dike, a resident of the Eliozu axis of Port Harcourt had abducted Chikamso, the daughter of his neighbour on Friday, August 18, 2017, raped and killed her before cutting off her vital parts.

Dike was caught by a vigilante group after he had stuffed the remains of the girl in a polythene bag and attempted to dump her in the bush.

After his arrest, Dike escaped from the custody of the Rivers State Police Command escaped to Plateau State where he was rearrested and brought back to Port Harcourt.

Delivering judgement on Wednesday, Justice Enebeli also sentence a dismissed policeman, Johnbosco Okoronze, who was found guilty of aiding Dike to escape from police custody to one-year imprisonment.

The judge stated that he decided to sentence Okoronze to one-year jail term because he had already served two years in prison, having been dismissed from the Nigeria Police Force.

Justice Enebeli said his judgement against the second defendant (Nwamiro) was based on the confessional statement made by the first defendant (Dike) who, in his four statements, maintained that he was asked to cut the little girl’s sensitive organs for financial independence.

The court ruled that the prosecution proved his case beyond reasonable doubt, adding that the counsel for the first defendant, Lezina Amegwa, in his first written address, did not deny the fact that his client committed the offence of murder, but said it was as a result of his client’s insanity.

Speaking with newsmen after the court session, the state prosecution counsel, Chidi Eke, said, “It is a landmark judgment brought about justice for the state, the family of late Victory Chikamso.”

But counsel to Nwamiro, Mr. John Ndah, expressed disatisfaction over the judgment and considered going for an appeal, even as Amegwa, counsel for Dike, said he might not appeal the matter because of the circumstances in the judgment.