By Uchendu Ejiowhor
The first defendant, Henry Barikui-Dele, has opened his defence in the murder trial involving former Caretaker Committee Chairman of Khana Local Government Area, Sunny Bekanwa, over the alleged killings of Doctor Lucky Keena and Engineer Deyaa Dunsara.
Barikui-Dele and Bekanwa are standing trial over allegations of membership of a secret cult group accused of murdering the two victims on separate occasions in 2018 in Kpean community, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Testifying before the court, Henry Barikui-Dele told the court that statements he made at the Anti-Cultism Unit of the Rivers State Police Command were not voluntary, alleging that he was tortured and forced by the police to implicate the former local government chairman.
During cross-examination, the defendant denied belonging to any cult group and claimed that police investigators promised to release him if he agreed to indict Sunny Bekanwa.
Responding to questions regarding his earlier statement on oath in which he admitted knowing the second defendant, despite Bekanwa’s position that he neither knew nor had any relationship with him, Barikui-Dele accused some members of the community of collaborating with the police to frame him.
His testimony contradicts an earlier statement allegedly made to investigators, in which he claimed that the former Khana council boss gave him jobs and initiated him into a cult group known as “Ngwo Ngwoa.”
At a previous sitting, a Police Investigation Officer attached to the Anti-Cultism Unit of the Rivers State Police Command, Inspector Stephen Ntibmouwei, had tendered a video recording and audio clips said to contain a voluntary confessional statement by Henry Barikui-Dele implicating Sunny Bekanwa in the matter.
Following the proceedings, Justice I.P.C. Igwe adjourned the case to June 9 and June 15, 2026, for continuation of defence by the accused persons.
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