Otokoto Ritual Killer Executed After 20 Years

Chief Vincent Duru, one of the men
convicted in the celebrated case of the
ritual murder of an 11-year-old boy,
Ikechukwu Okoronkwo, on September 19, 1996 in Owerri, Imo
State, has reportedly been hanged.
His sentence said to have been carried
out on Sunday, November 13, 2016, is
coming 13 years after his 2003
conviction. To refresh memories on the case,
which became popularly known as
the ‘Otokoto murder’ at the time, here
are 20 things to know:

1. The victim, Okoronkwo, a
groundnut seller, was lured into a highbrow hotel called Otokoko in
Owerri and beheaded.

2. Okoronko was reportedly given a
bottle of Coca-Cola that had been
spiked with drug before he was killed.

3. The hotel was owned by Chief Vincent Duru, who became known as
Chief Otokoto during the lengthy trial
that followed his arrest

4. Apart from being beheaded, the
culprits reportedly removed different
other organs from his body including his genitals before burying the corpse
in a shallow grave.

5. The crime was discovered when 32-
year-old Innocent Ekeanyanwu, who
beheaded the boy left the hotel to
deliver the head in a polythene bag to a client. An okada rider, who gave him
a ride discovered the fresh human
head and alerted the police later.
Ekeanyanwu was intercepted by the
police on his way back.

6. When the news of the boys’ murder broke, for many days, angry residents
of Owerri trooped to the streets in
what became known as the Otokoto
Riots. Houses, hotels, supermarkets,
and vehicles suspected to belong to
the suspects and those suspected to belong to fraudsters or people of
shady characters were burnt.

7. Ekeanyanwu was to deliver the
boy’s head to an influential figure,
Chief Leonard Unaogu at Eziama in
Ikeduru Local Council Area of the state but Unaogu had reportedly travelled.
He was said to have had no choice but
to take the boy’s head to Owerri.

8. A popular photograph showing
Ekeanyanwu holding the victim’s head
was later released to the media, sparking the anger of Owerri
residents.

9. In the ensuing riots, the residents
burnt down Duru’s Otokoto Hotel and
houses. They also destroyed the cars
and a petrol station belonging to Eze Onu Egwu Nwoke. The homes of some
government officials were not spared.

10. Just three days after his arrest,
Ekeanyanwu was found dead in police
custody. He was suspected to have
been poisoned but the police released a statement to deny any foul play.

11. Three police officers were
sentenced to death by hanging by an
Owerri High Court in 2002 for their
roles in the death of Ekeanyanwu,
who was supposed to be the principal witness in the case.

12. Before his death, Ekeanyanwu had
confessed that Unaogu was the brains
behind the ritual killing syndicate he
worked for.

13. Policemen who later searched the premises of Otokoto Hotel reportedly
exhumed some bodies of people
suspected to be victims of the
syndicate.

14. When Unaogu was arrested, he
denied knowing Ekeanyanwu, who was a gardener at the Otokoto Hotel
during the time of the crime. Duru was
also arrested and both he and Unaogu
denied knowing each other during
their trial, a claim rejected by the judge.
Five others were arrested in connection with the case.

15. Trial of the suspects started on
December 9, 1996.

16. Nwosu-Iheme sentenced all the
seven suspects including Unaogu and
Duru to death. 17. Unaogu would later die at the Port
Harcourt Prisons in mysterious
circumstances.

18. Duru, a native of Umudim
Community in Ikeduru Local
Government Area, of Imo State, appealed his conviction but the
sentence was upheld by the Appeal
Court.

19. During the Otokoto trial, Duru’s
son, Obicheozor , was arrested in
connection with a kidnapping case allegedly carried out by a gang he
belonged to, ..

Black Scorpions. In 1997,
Obicheozor was executed by firing
squad along with six others.

20. One of the convicted, Ebenezer
Egwueke, would later appeal his conviction too and eventually found to
be innocent. He was freed after 16
years in prison. By the time he was out
in 2013, he was 62 years old.

Culled from Punch