A High Court sitting in Eket, Akwa Ibom State has sentenced a certain man to death by hanging on the for killing his neighbor over N80,000.

Justice Nsemeke Daniel, the presiding judge, on Wednesday passed the death sentence on the accused, Okon Ebenge, from Akpautong in the Esit Eket Local Government Area, for conspiring with his son, Akaninyene, to kill his 37-year-old neighbor, Eteyen Ekong, when he demanded the refund of N80,000.

Ekong, a native of Ntak Inyang in Esit Eket, was said to have given the convict N80,000 in 2013 to construct a container shade for his business.

It was gathered that the convict did not construct the container and refused to refund the money to Ebenge, prompting the deceased to go to Ebenge’s house for his money on January 10, 2016, where he was beaten to death by the convict and his son, who escaped.

In his judgment, Justice Daniel said:

“The law is trite that when any person aids the commission of an offence by being at the scene not as an onlooker but with the purpose of assisting any other person in committing the offence; he is equally guilty of the offence as a principal.”

He ruled that the death of the deceased was accelerated by the convict who prevented sympathisers from taking the deceased to a hospital while he was still breathing even though unconscious.

“In my view, the specific act of using a machete to chase away people from entering his compound to rescue the victim was a manifestation of his intention to ensure that the man was dead,” Daniel said.

The judge sentenced Ebenge to death for murder on count one, while on count two, he was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment.