By Calista Oyeoba / Posted November 28, 2025
Rivers State High Court Port Harcourt has sentenced Damian Okoligwe, a Petrochemical Engineering student at UNIPORT, to death by hanging for murdering and dismembering his girlfriend, Justina Otuene, a 300 level Biochemistry student.
The brutal act happened at his own apartment in Obio/Akpor, where he cut up her body and placed the gory remains in a wheelbarrow and attempting to dispose the parts before he was caught by the police.
Presiding Judge, Justice Chinwe Nsirim Nwosu stated that the prosecution had proven the murder case beyond reasonable doubt, calling Okoligwe’s actions “intentional, composed, calculated and evil” with no inconsistencies in the evidence.
The judge consequently, ordered that Okoligwe should be hanged until death.
Prosecutor Charles Mbaba welcomed the sentence, saying it would bring peace to Justina’s soul and some level of closure to her family, saying the verdict would serve as a warning to others against taking “shortcuts”.