…Second Suspect, Identified, Joined
The pendulum of justice is dangling at suspected serial killer, Gracious David West, as he’s to take fresh plea on November 21, in a case involving the alleged murder of women in different hotels in Port-Harcourt and other cities in Nigeria.
The accused serial killer was brought to a Port-Harcourt High Court on Monday presided by Justice Adolphus Enebeli for his prosecution in the murder trial. The suspect was in his prison uniform when he was brought in for trial before the court.
Attorney-General and Commissioner for justice in Rivers State, Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor, who is the prosecuting counsel for the State government, told the court that the state government took over the case from the Rivers State Police Command on October 22, 2019 without evidence provided by the police against the accused.
He said he received the case file of the accused from the police last week and sought in an application to withdraw the original charge filed by the police and substitute same with a fresh charge by the Rivers State government.
Adangor said the state government was charging David West and a second suspect, Nimi ThankGod with serial murder, saying that the state government has sufficient evidence against them.
The second accused person, Nimi ThankGod, was however not in court on Monday.
In his ruling, Justice Enebeli granted the application of the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice to replace the original charge by police with fresh charge against the two accused persons.
The two accused persons will take plea on November 21.
The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice said in an interview after the sitting that he studied the case file against the accused and was convinced that the case file revealed prima facie case against Gracious David West and one other person, Nimi ThankGod.
Adangor said: “We studied the case file and were convinced that the case file discloses prima facie case against the accused person and another person, one Nimi ThankGod. We have prepared fresh information together with proof of evidence as required by law. We have replaced the original charge with a fresh information filed this morning. Both of them are charged as accused persons in the proceedings. The police charged only Gracious but from the case file we realized that the second person ought to have been charged and that second person is ThankGod Nimi. So, we are charging him together with Gracious David West. So two of them will take their plea on the 21st of November.”
He further said: “We had 10-count charge prepared by the police. We now have 10-count information together with proof of evidence. What proof of evidence means is that all the statements made by prospective witnesses and even the statements made by the accused persons themselves are put together as a bundle of document. They need to study and prepare for also their defence. That is what justice requires. That’s what we’ve done and that’s what our law requires us to do.”
The accused serial killer was said to have killed 17 women in different hotels in Port-Harcourt and other cities, according to a statement released by the Police Public Relations Officer in Rivers State Police Command.
The accused serial killer was arrested along East-West road on 19 September, 2019 on his way to Akwa Ibom State and was arraigned at the Port-Harcourt High Court presided by Justice Adolphus Enebeli on October 21 in charge Number PHC/3426/CR/2019 between the Inspector-General of Police and Gracious David West.
The Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Frank Mba, said in a statement at the time that: “The notorious serial killer, Gracious David West, was today September 19, 2019 arrested by the police in Rivers. The 26-years-old killer from Buguma of Rivers State who is also a member of the Degbam cult group was arrested along East-West Road en route to Uyo from Port-Harcourt.”
The Force Public Relations Officer had said that the serial killer made useful statements to the police and that investigation was on “with a view to ascertaining his motives and possible accomplices.”
David West had told newsmen who questioned him on his motives for killing that he had an irresistible urge to kill. The encounter with the press was at the time he was paraded before newsmen by the Rivers State Police Command.
The accused serial killer had said: “I don’t know what comes over me to kill.
After I have killed, I feel remorse and cry for killing but after that, the irresistible urge to kill comes over me again. I kill alone”.
Before his arrest, Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, CP Mustapha Dandaura, had assured that the police would deal with the problem of serial killing in the state.
He had said at a press conference that he held meeting with hotel owners in Port-Harcourt and that they resolved that hotel owners should install CCTV cameras in their premises and do proper documentation of guests.
He had described the killings as having “element of cultism” saying at the time that the same method was used by perpetrator of the crime.
The trial of David West and another accused person, Nimi ThankGod, continues on Thursday, November 21.
