I join the people of Plateau State in condemning the cold blooded murder of Mr RINJI Bala , a 20 year old Student of the University of Jos. May his soul Rest In Peace .My heart goes out to the immediate family over this sad irreparable loss.

I only need to add that it is possible for justice to be done and I call upon the State to ensure that the culprit is made to face the full wrath of the law. This will need vigilance and steadfastness by the family , friends of the deceased and the State Government . May I cite a similar case which I prosecuted in the Supreme Court to drive home the point.

In Ochiba v The State (2011) LPELR 8245(SC) the Supreme Court delivered judgement on the 16 th December , 2011,in that case and confirmed the death sentence upon the appellant Sergeant Emmanuel Ochiba for the murder of Godwin Momoh.on the 12 th day of September , 2001 in the heat of the Jos crisis.

A team of Police officers had stopped a group along Tafawa Balewa street in Jos and asked them( Godwin Momoh, Jonathan Mawaiyau, who later became the state Attorney General, and one other person) to kneel down and raise their hands. The group of three complied but Constable Emmanuel Ochiba ( that was the rank of the accused) took a gun from one of his colleagues and shot the deceased point blank on his chest.Mr Momoh died instantly.

The Plateau State Ministry of Justice prosecuted the case in the high Court in Jos.Though the accused denied committing the offence , Yargata Nimpar J, as she then was, found him guilty and sentenced him to death in line with the law.

The appeal to the Court of Appeal was dismissed whereupon the Appellant further appealed to the Supreme Court where I led a team of lawyers of the ministry of Justice for the State.
Justice I T Muhammad ( now the Chief Justice of nNigeria) who presided over the case after dismissing the appeal commended the
Ministry of Justice for for the steadfast conduct of the case from the trial court up to the Supreme Court.

However. I learnt the convict has been pardoned by the present Governor in exercise of his powers of prerogative of mercy. The suspect in the killing of RINJI needs to be prosecuted to ensure that Justice is done.

Edward G Pwajok , SAN

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The Killing of Rinji Bala and the Need For Justice – Rep. Edward Pwajok, SAN