Killer of Enugu Make-Up Artist Sentenced to Death by Hanging

Gideon Arinze in Enugu

An Enugu State High Court has sentenced Chiamaka Ifezue, the killer of Ijeoma Nweke, an Enugu-based make-up artist, to death by hanging, three years after the incident.

The corpse of the make-up artist was found in Maryland within Enugu Metropolis on November 16, 2020, after she left home on November 11, 2020 for a job but went missing afterwards.

Her supposed client, having refused to disclose the location for the job, asked the deceased to stop at the Enugu State Broadcasting Service (ESBS) bus stop, where she would be taken to the venue.

Nweke, having perceived foul play, sent the client’s phone number to her brother via text message. Her phones were unreachable afterward leading to suspicion that she might have been kidnapped.

This led to a frantic search for her by friends and relatives until early morning on Monday when her corpse was found at Maryland in Enugu.

Eyewitnesses said that her corpse was mutilated with a substance suspected to be acid.

In a judgment that lasted for two hours yesterday, the presiding judge, Justice Kenneth Okpe, found the accused guilty of killing the victim, noting that it resolved the issue against the defendant by the evidence placed before the court.

Okpe said that the court is unable to see the evidence that would have been against the prosecution’s case if the body of the deceased was exhumed and autopsy conducted.

 “I, therefore hold that the argument and submission in that regard was misconceived.

“In the whole, I hold that the prosecution by cogent and credible evidence proved the case against the defendant beyond reasonable doubt and as required by law. Accordingly, I hereby find the defendant guilty of the offence of murder.

“The defendant was in Count 2, charged under Section 274(1) of the Criminal Code Law of Enugu State Cap. 30, Revised Laws of Enugu State, 2004, which prescribed death sentences as punishment.

“This court cannot, therefore, notwithstanding the plea for mercy, return a lower sentence. In Lucky v. State (2016) LPELR-40541 the Supreme Court warned that where statute has prescribed mandatory sentences, the trial court will lack the power to exercise discretion. It must return the prescribed punishment.

“But before I do that, let me state that this defendant, though having a gentle mien, has a heart of steel. She carried on through the trial with a sense of fulfillment that the mission was accomplished and that her freedom was a matter of time.

“There was no remorse shown from the beginning of trial till judgment day. Not even on the day the then 2nd defendant was discharged on the application of no case to answer did she feel bad.

“Of course, her counsel also did not help matters that day with their boast in open court, to immediately appeal against the ruling as it affected the defendant, shortly after the ruling was delivered. The main appeal and application to the governor for pardon are options now available to the defendant.

“Meanwhile, I hereby sentence the defendant, Ifezue Chiamaka, to death by hanging until she is dead. May God have mercy on her soul.”

Counsels for the defendant, Mr. Chuma Oguejiofor and N. Aro, had pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, particularly as the defendant is a young person and a first offender.

However, counsels for the state led by the Director, Public Prosecution, Ngozi Okoye,  agreed that there was no evidence of previous conviction against the defendant but reminded the court that in the circumstance of the case that the sentence is mandatory.