The High Court of Anambra State, Awka Judicial Division, presided over by Justice Okechukwu Nwabunike, has sentenced Silas Uwa to life imprisonment for the killing of his uncle, following a dispute over family land in Ebenebe, Awka North Local Government Area.

Justice Nwabunike convicted Uwa of manslaughter in Suit No. A/63C/2018 after finding that the prosecution established through credible circumstantial evidence that he killed the deceased.

The prosecution said the dispute arose over ownership of a parcel of land which the kindred had adjudged to belong to the deceased.

According to the prosecution, Uwa and his siblings rejected the decision.

It was alleged that Uwa later confronted his uncle while he was working on his farm, engaged him in a fight and hacked him with a machete, resulting in his death.

The prosecution, led by Chief State Counsel Ifeanyi Oguejiofor, assisted by Principal State Counsel Ijeoma Ugboaja, called four witnesses, including the Investigating Police Officer.

The defence pleaded self-defence and argued that the prosecution had failed to prove murder beyond reasonable doubt, particularly in the absence of an eyewitness to the killing.

However, Justice Nwabunike held that a murder case could be established through direct eyewitness testimony, a confessional statement or circumstantial evidence.

Although there was no eyewitness account, the judge found the circumstantial evidence against Uwa credible and sufficient to establish that he killed the deceased.

The court also rejected the plea of self-defence but convicted Uwa of the lesser offence of manslaughter and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Reacting to the judgment, the Secretary of the Law Officers Association of Nigeria, Anambra State Chapter, Nonso Emeka, said the case underscored the directive of the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Tobechukwu Nweke, SAN, that parties in land disputes should seek civil remedies, including actions for declaration of title, rather than resort to self-help or criminalising civil claims.