The Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo has sentenced two men, including a dismissed Nigerian soldier, to death by hanging for their involvement in multiple armed robbery operations targeting commercial tricycle riders, commonly known as “Keke Napep” operators.
The judgment was delivered by Justice Archibong Archibong, nearly 12 years after the crimes were committed.
The two convicts—41-year-old Promise Okokon Usoro, a former Lance Corporal in the Nigerian Army, and 32-year-old Odinaka Emmanuel Victor from Osisioma Ngwa in Abia State—were found guilty of committing armed robbery while wielding AK-47 rifles. They were convicted of attacking and robbing tricyclists at gunpoint in separate incidents in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.
Promise Usoro, a native of Ikot Osom and former soldier attached to the 6 Battalion, Nigerian Army at Ibagwa Barracks in Abak Local Government Area, was convicted for robbing one Peter Daniel Okon of his tricycle along Idoro Road, Uyo, on February 10, 2013. At the time of the robbery, he was armed with an AK-47 rifle.
Following the robbery incident, Usoro was first subjected to a military court-martial, where he was found guilty and dismissed from service. He was then handed over to the Nigerian Police for prosecution in a civilian court.
In his confessional statement to the police, Usoro admitted that he participated in at least three separate armed robbery operations targeting tricycle operators within Uyo. He confessed to carrying out the crimes alongside a known accomplice, simply identified as “JJ,” who remains at large. Usoro further disclosed that one of the stolen tricycles was sold by JJ, who gave him a share of ₦50,000 from the proceeds.
The second convict, Odinaka Emmanuel Victor, also confessed to participating in another robbery incident on February 14, 2013. He revealed that he and the ex-soldier attacked and robbed a tricycle operator, Anyanwu Chidi Francis, along Ikot Ekpene Road in Uyo, using an AK-47 rifle.
In an extrajudicial statement, Odinaka narrated that he had previously been involved in similar tricycle-snatching operations in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, under the leadership of one Engr. Obuigwe. He explained that he was invited to Uyo by a gang member named James, who transported him in a Passat car for a robbery mission.
Odinaka further stated that the gang picked up Usoro, the ex-soldier, from the army barracks before proceeding to rob a tricycle operator. He was later arrested in possession of the stolen tricycle, while the other members of the gang escaped.
The two men stood trial alongside a third accused, 37-year-old Ndifreke Willie Udo, a native of Odoro Ikot in Essien Udim Local Government Area, who was residing in Port Harcourt at the time of the crime. However, after a lengthy trial, Justice Archibong ruled that there was insufficient evidence linking Udo to the crime.
Consequently, while the court found the case against Usoro and Odinaka to have been proven beyond reasonable doubt, it discharged and acquitted Ndifreke Udo of all charges due to lack of sufficient evidence.
The court, therefore, sentenced Promise Okokon Usoro and Odinaka Emmanuel Victor to death by hanging, bringing closure to a case that had dragged on for over a decade.