Seven Years After Gruesome Murder of Elozino Ogege, Court to Decide Fate of Alleged Killers on July 29

A Delta State High Court sitting in Ogwashi-Uku has fixed Wednesday, July 29, 2026, for judgment in the trial of three men accused of kidnapping and murdering Elozino Joshualia Ogege, a former student of Delta State University.

The court reserved judgment after lawyers representing both the prosecution and the defendants adopted their final written addresses in the long-running criminal trial that has drawn widespread public attention since 2018.

Counsel to the first defendant, S. C. Okehielem Esq., urged the court to discharge and acquit his client, arguing that the prosecution failed to prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubt.

Lawyers representing the second and third defendants, Cosmas Ogugua Esq. and Ben Okoh Esq. respectively, also asked the court to acquit their clients, insisting that the evidence presented did not sufficiently establish guilt.

However, the Delta State Solicitor-General, Omamuzo Erebe, SAN, who led the prosecution team alongside Principal State Counsel Funkekeme Junior Solomon, maintained that the prosecution had successfully established the defendants’ involvement in the crime.

The prosecution urged the court to convict the accused persons on all counts, insisting that the evidence before the court proved their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Suspected Ritual Killers of DELSU Student, Miss Elozino Ogege

The three defendants — Macaulay Desmond Oghenemaro, Nwosisi Benedict Uche, and Enaike Onoriode — are standing trial over the alleged kidnapping and murder of Elozino Ogege in November 2018.

Elozino, who was a 300-level Mass Communication student of Delta State University, Abraka, was reportedly abducted and later murdered in circumstances linked to alleged ritual activities.

Her death sparked outrage across Nigeria, especially within the university community, civil society groups, and women’s rights organisations, with many demanding justice over the brutal killing.

The case, initially filed in 2019, suffered several delays before the trial eventually reached its conclusion.

A fourth defendant, Robinson Obajero Ojokojo, who was reportedly a native doctor and originally charged alongside the others, died while the case was still ongoing.

The judgment scheduled for July 29, 2026, is expected to bring closure to one of the most closely followed murder trials in Delta State in recent years.