At a time when dad and mom take pleasure of their kids’s accomplishments, 89-year-old Pa Everestus Okereke of Imo State faces a painful accident. In this report, ANGELA NKWO-AKPOLU tells the poignant story of an aged father languishing in jail and going through the grim prospect of dying by hanging alongside his eldest son, Ugochukwu.
At 89, when life must be about relaxation, household and the consolation of previous age, Pa Everestus Okereke is as a substitute confronted with the agonising prospect of dropping his life and that of his eldest son, Ugochukwu Iwueke, to the hangman’s noose on the Owerri Correctional Centre.
Their ordeal stems from an offence allegedly dedicated by one other son who reportedly fled, leaving the aged father and his eldest son caught in a authorized battle that might finish of their execution. For Pa Okereke, the worry of dying alongside one other of his harmless son is a tragedy that solely a miracle might avert.
He hails from Umuoparañuruba, Umuoparaebo – Umukaku, within the Ihitte Uboma native authorities space of Imo State.
In 2006, his youthful son acquired right into a combat with one other individual and inflicted wounds on him. By the time folks may separate them and cease the fisticuffs, one individual was battling to remain alive however died en path to the hospital.
Ugochukwu Iwueke, his elder son, figuring out the implications of the combat and the next dying of the deceased, rushed to the police station to alert safety operatives.
However, the police operatives on obligation instructed Ugochukwu to stay on the station for his personal security and warned that irate neighbours may resolve to assault the home and its occupants, saying he could be safer with them.
Soon, the police returned to arrest the younger Iwueke over the presumed dying of the deceased however discovered that he was absent. He had fled, and to at the present time, no one is aware of his whereabouts.
The grieving household, nonetheless, needed to be assuaged, so the police picked up his father, then 79-year-old Pa Okereke, and took him to the police station. He joined his eldest son, Ugochukwu, who had sought refuge on the station from irate youths, and that marked the start of their detention.
The trial Justice of the Peace within the Ihitte-Uboma division ordered their remand on the Okigwe Correctional Centre as a result of the court docket lacked jurisdiction to deal with the case, whether or not for manslaughter or homicide, whereas the file was despatched to the director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for authorized recommendation.
Soon afterwards, the matter was introduced earlier than a reliable High Court, the place Justice V.C. Ishiguzo of the Etiti/Mbano High Court ordered their conviction by hanging. The court docket discovered each males responsible and sentenced them to dying by hanging.
Efforts by their household to overturn the decision on the Court of Appeal proved abortive, because the judges upheld the choice of the decrease court docket.
Now frail because of age and his dwelling situations on the Owerri Correctional Centre, Pa Okereke is looking for to return to the consolation of his dwelling and the corporate of his kinsmen, popularly generally known as Umunna.
Under Nigerian regulation, the Controller-general of the Nigerian Correctional Service can’t launch the octogenarian however can solely suggest that the state governor or the President grant him a prerogative of mercy.
As convicted inmates awaiting execution, Pa Okereke and his son have restricted entry to guests, together with public-spirited Nigerians who want to intervene within the matter.
He doesn’t even know whether or not his spouse, who suffers from age-related illnesses, remains to be alive or has died from the trauma of dropping her husband and son to the Owerri correctional centre.
He now not remembers the faces of his grandchildren, who can’t go to him as a result of they’re minors and the regulation forbids their entry into correctional centres.
His Umunna have since stopped visiting him, presumably because of disgrace or the excessive price of transportation from his hometown in Ihitte-Uboma native authorities space.
Most of his age-mates who perceive the case have died, whereas the others are grappling with age-related issues.
Only not too long ago, Evangelist Christian Chuka held an outreach programme contained in the Owerri Correctional Centre and highlighted Okereke’s plight.
The cleric had warned of extreme penalties for Imo State if the octogenarian was left to die in custody.
Meanwhile, sources confirmed that, following the visuals aired on the nationwide tv station Arise Television, the State director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had visited the Owerri Correctional Centre to interview Pa Everestus and his son, Ugochukwu. The DPP had additionally briefed the State Attorney-General.
An Owerri-based lawyer, Chinedu Agu, stated that though they’d been convicted by a State High Court, the case might be revisited by submitting an enchantment on the Supreme Court, saying, “No other remedy apart from going to the Supreme Court.”
“But the Governor can rely on his constitutional powers to grant a pardon, and then grant the man a pardon, especially given his age and how long he has spent in detention,” Agu posited.
Meanwhile, the manager director of the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), Okechukwu Nwanguma, stated the story of Pa Everestus was deeply troubling and demanded pressing consideration from the state authorities.
He stated there have been troubling allegations about their arrests and convictions if these have been primarily based on against the law dedicated by one other individual, although linked to the household.
Nwanguma stated, “The reported case of 89-year-old Pa Everestus Okereke and his son, Ugochukwu, is deeply troubling and deserves pressing consideration from the Imo State Government and the related justice establishments.
Nwangumma additional stated , “We perceive that the 2 males have spent a few decade in custody and have been ultimately sentenced to dying. There are additionally disturbing allegations that their arrest are from an incident involving one other son who reportedly fled after a deadly altercation.
“RULAAC would need the total details and court docket data examined earlier than making a definitive pronouncement on the deserves of their conviction. Criminal accountability is private, and no one must be arrested, prosecuted or punished merely as a result of the precise suspect is unavailable or due to his relationship with an alleged offender.
“At the same time, an 89-year-old man who has already spent approximately ten years in custody and is now under sentence of death presents an exceptionally compelling humanitarian case.”
Furthermore, he known as on the Imo State Governor and the State Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy to urgently assessment the case and train the prerogative of mercy in favour of the octogenarian and his incarcerated son.
Nwanguma stated, “We subsequently enchantment to Governor Hope Uzodimma and the Imo State Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy to urgently assessment the case. If there are not any excellent authorized impediments, we’d urge the Governor to train the constitutional prerogative of mercy by granting Pa Okereke a pardon or commuting his sentence and facilitating his launch.
“We equally name for a assessment of his son’s case, notably the proof upon which he was convicted and the standing of any appeals.
“This is just not about trivialising the dying that gave rise to the legal proceedings or disregarding the rights of the deceased’s household. It is about making certain that justice is individualised, proportionate and tempered with humanity.
“At 89, after about a decade behind bars, keeping Pa Okereke on death row serves little discernible corrective or rehabilitative purpose. The Imo State Government should act urgently and humanely,” Nwanguma stated.
For Pa Everestus and his son, Ugochukwu, their destiny lies within the fingers of the Imo State Government, which should resolve whether or not to revisit the case, think about the octogenarian’s age and let him stroll free, or permit the execution to happen. Fortunately, no Imo State Governor has appended his signature to approve the execution of any convicted individual, regardless of how weighty the crime was. Only the times forward maintain the solutions to their destiny.
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