Man Sentenced to Death for Poisoning Teenage Boy Who Exposed Their Gay Relationship

An Izzi High Court sitting in Abakaliki, the capital of Ebonyi State, has sentenced a 30-year-old man, Boniface Abraham Edigbo, to death by hanging for the murder of an 18-year-old secondary school student, Ogbonna Joshua.

According to court records, Edigbo poisoned the young student on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, after their last sexual encounter at a hotel. The victim, a Senior Secondary School 2 (SS2) student of Community Secondary School, Amachi, in Izzi Local Government Area, had recently revealed their relationship to his school principal and classmates after suffering anal complications. The disclosure violated a pact between the two, made in 2023, to keep the relationship secret.

In a bid to silence him permanently, Edigbo reportedly invited the boy to spend the night with him at Edigbo Guest House on May 22. The following morning, he mixed a bottle of soft drink with insecticide and gave it to the teenager, who died shortly after consuming it.

After the killing, Edigbo reportedly confessed to a woman, explaining that he acted out of anger because the boy had exposed their relationship. While pretending to help him escape, the woman instead alerted local youths who apprehended him and led them back to the hotel. There, they found the lifeless body of Ogbonna in Room 006.

Presiding over the case, Justice Ruth Okeh found Edigbo guilty of murder and sentenced him to death by hanging.

Speaking after the judgment, prosecuting counsel Mrs. Ijeoma Mike-Aja Nwachukwu praised the ruling, saying it would serve as a strong deterrent to others who may consider committing such grievous crimes.

The case has stirred conversations around abuse, accountability, and justice in the state.