A Rivers State High Court has sentenced a 400-level University of Port Harcourt student, Damian Okoligwe, to death for killing his girlfriend, Justina Otuene, a 300-level Biochemistry student.
Delivering judgment, Justice Chiwen Nsirim Nwosu held that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that the 26-year-old, Okoligwe intentionally caused Justina’s death.
20-year-old Justina Otuene, was the only daughter of her parents. The crime occurred in October 2023 at his residence, where her dismembered body was later found inside a ‘Ghana-must-go’ bag after neighbours alerted police to a foul smell.
After his arrest, the case moved from a Magistrate Court to the Department of Public Prosecutions in late 2023, with full trial beginning in May 2024.
The Prosecuting counsel, Charles Obediah-Mbaba lauded the judgment, calling it both justice served and a warning to youths seeking illicit shortcuts to wealth. He described the murder as “gruesome” and possibly ritual-motivated.
Justina’s brother, Osat-Awaji Otuene, expressed relief at the verdict. The case adds to a growing list of high-profile partner-related murder convictions in Rivers State which has intensified discussions about rising intimate-partner violence in Nigeria.
