A 19-year-old Nigerian recently found guilty of manslaughter in the fatal stabbing of a Ghanaian colleague tried to flee to Nigeria in the immediate aftermath of the incident in April 2023.
According to a Northampton Police November 22 statement on the guilty verdict against Melvin Lebaga-Idubor narrated how he had tried escaping to Lagos hours after an altercation led to him stabbing Kwabena Osei-Poku.
The statement noted that he had plotted the escape with his girlfriend and another friend, travelling by train to Paris with the aim of getting a connecting flight.
Police account of the botched escape:
Following the killing, Lebaga-Idubor called on his girlfriend, Zhanae Forbes-Coleman, aged 19, of Northampton, and a friend, Antonio Huian, aged 18, of Northampton, in order to facilitate his escape.
Huian took him to hospital due to “injuries sustained during the altercation with Kwabena”, however the pair left without Lebaga-Idubor receiving any treatment. The clothes he had been wearing during the killing were then burnt in a metal bin in Huian’s back garden.
Forbes-Coleman then arrived with a set of new clothes and documents before arranging transport for Lebaga-Idubor to make a stop at his London address before boarding the Eurostar to Paris.
Though he successfully arrived in the French capital and had plans to travel onwards to Nigeria, he was later persuaded to come home and was arrested.
Both Lebaga-Idubor and Eke were subsequently charged with murder and possession of an offensive weapon.
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Huian and Forbes-Coleman were both charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Outcome of trial of four accused:
Following a six-week trial at Northampton Crown Court which ended today, Wednesday, November 22, Lebaga-Idubor was found guilty of murder and possession of a knife.
Eke was found not guilty of the same charges, and also cleared of a further count of manslaughter.
Forbes-Coleman was found not guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Huian had pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice at an earlier court hearing.
Lebaga-Idubor and Huian will be sentenced at the same court on a date to be confirmed in January, following the preparation of pre-sentence reports.
What led to the fracas and death
According to a report by northants.police.uk, Ogechi Eke and his accomplice Melvin Lebaga-Idubor stabbed Osei-Poku two times in an altercation over a large quantity of cannabis on April 24, 2023.
The report indicated that the two Nigerians went to a flat at the university to meet the victim after they told him that they wanted to buy the drugs from him.
But after they met at the flat, Eke and Lebage-Idubor decided to steal the drugs and warn him (Osei-Poku) not to be selling at his corner.
This led to a fight and an eye-witness is reported to have heard Lebage-Idubor saying, “This is my strip. What are you doing strutting drugs around here? Our line is here.”
Lebage-Idubor managed to snatch the drugs from the victim's hand and walked off the campus with Eke.
The late Osei-Poku then persued them to get his drug back, but an altercation ensued, which led to Lebaga-Idubor stabbing him twice on the New South Bridge Road.
Osei-Poku, according to the report, died at the scene of the altercation despite the best efforts of paramedics to keep him alive.
A compilation of CCTV footage of the incident was released by Northamptonshire Police where the victim could be seen following the two accused persons on the street.
The two Nigerians could seen in the video running back from the scene of the attack.
They were seen at another point entering a building where one of them could be seen assisting the other who was injured.
Watch the video of the incident below:
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