Court of Appeal in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, has upheld the judgment of the Bayelsa State High Court which sentenced ex-Corporal Vincent Koluama-owei to death by hanging for killing 17-year old Innocent Kokorifa in Yenagoa.
Late Innocent Kokorifa, was shot to death by the police on August 18, 2016 during a patrol duty with men of the Anti-Vice/Anti-Kidnapping team along Air Force Road, Okaka in Yenagoa.
In the suit filed by the family of deceased in 2016, the police claimed that the late innocent Kokorifa was a member of an armed robbery gang.
The case lasted till October 2018 when Justice Ineikade Eradiri, delivered judgment and sentenced the ex-police personnel Vincent Koluama-owei to death by hanging.
The ex-corporal however appealed the judgment in the appeal court Port Harcourt
In his ruling on Friday, Justice I. O. Akeju upheld the judgment of the Bayelsa State High Court which sentenced the Ex-Corporal Vincent Koluama-owei to death.
Speaking to journalists after the judgment, Daniel Kokorifa, the father to the Late Innocent Kokorifa, expressed gratitude to the court for affirming the justice done to his family by affirming the judgment of the lower court.
He said that his family name has been cleared as his son has been absolved of the allegation that he was a member of armed robbery gang, which warranted his killing.
