A High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, yesterday, discharged and acquitted a minor, Emmanuel Chibuike, from a manslaughter charge filed against him.
 
Chibuike was charged for manslaughter under section 236 of the criminal code of Nigeria, for stabbing a 20-year-old Ahmed Buhari to death in self-defence in November 2020, at Mile 3 Diobu, Port Harcourt Local Council.
 
The trial Judge, Justice Else Thompson, in her judgment said it is not in doubt that the deceased died, but the act was not intentional as the defendant acted upon self-defence from the deceased who bullied him.
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The Judge held that the prosecution was unable to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt that the minor Chibuike committed manslaughter and not self-defence by stabbing the late Ahmed Buhari to death.
 
Speaking outside the courtroom, counsel to the defendant, Mrs. Boma John-Williams, said they are happy with the judgment, as the law has vindicated her client.
 
John-Williams, who noted that the defendant was bullied and acted in self-defence, explained that Chibuike was barely 15 years old without parents, when the incident happened, and was surviving through the assistance of his grandmother and uncle.
 
“I feel elated because as a minor the law will not condemn him to death, but in this case, the law vindicates him, I am happy. It was self-defence because it is acceptable in law,” she added.
 
Also, the prosecuting counsel, Kingsley Briggs, said they will liaise with the deceased’s family to know the next step to take.
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