Congolese Man Found Guilty of Murdering Nigerian Postgraduate Student in Norwich
NORWICH, England — A jury at Norwich Crown Court has found 28-year-old Congolese national Benjamin Katabana guilty of the murder of Uchenna Okirie, a Nigerian postgraduate student and International Student Ambassador. The unanimous verdict was delivered on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, concluding an 11-day criminal trial that has deeply shaken the local and international student communities. The conviction follows a violent escalation on November 22, 2025, inside Somerleyton House, a shared residential accommodation off Unthank Road in Norwich. Norfolk Police responded to an emergency call at 5:22 a.m., discovering Okirie with a fatal stab wound to his chest. Despite emergency medical interventions by paramedics, the 26-year-old Nigerian student was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:01 a.m. Katabana, a fellow resident of the shared building, was apprehended by police shortly after the attack and subsequently charged with murder. Detectives confirmed that both men lived in the same complex, which houses university students and young working professionals. Uchenna "Uche" Okirie was a prominent figure within the university community, serving as the International Student Ambassador to Nigeria at the University of East Anglia (UEA), where he was pursuing his postgraduate studies. Before relocating to the United Kingdom in 2021, Okirie graduated with a degree in Economics from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) in Nigeria, and he also built a professional career as a head office auditor for the UBA Group before travelling abroad. In Norwich, friends and colleagues remembered him for his quiet generosity, academic dedication, and regular volunteer work with the British Red Cross. Following the guilty verdict, the presiding judge remanded Katabana in custody, and he will remain detained until a formal sentencing hearing is scheduled at Norwich Crown Court, where he faces a mandatory life sentence under UK law.
Benita Ibrahim
