A woman, Mrs Agnes Nwefuru has been sentenced to death by hanging by the Ebonyi State High Court, sitting in Abakaliki, the state capital, on Monday.
Mrs. Nwefuru was accused of killing her co-wife and her seven children.
The state government had dragged the convict before the court in suit No HAW/13C/2017, brought against Nwefuru, accusing her of setting ablaze the house of her co-wife, Felicia Nwefuru, which led to her death and that of her seven children.
The police also disclosed that the accused person also burnt her own house during the act as a cover up.
The prosecution also disclosed that the accused removed all her belongings and that of her children and took them to a safe place outside the house before committing the act.
The victims, eight members of the same family, had been reported in 2017 to have been burnt to death following a mysterious fire that engulfed their house around 3am at Ogboji community in the Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
The husband, Mr Sylvanus Nwefuru, and Miss Ukamaka Nwefuru, one of late Felicia’s daughters however survived the fire.
While delivering his judgment, the trial judge, Justice Uwabunkonye Onwosi, held that the prosecution proved that the defendant was guilty of the murder charge preferred against her.
“Nwefuru Agnes is found guilty of murder and is hereby convicted. The term of her sentence is that she be hanged by the neck until she is dead,” the judge ruled.
