A 28-year-old Congolese man, Benjamin Katabana, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his Nigerian roommate, Uchenna Okirie, in Norwich, United Kingdom.
Katabana was handed the sentence at Norwich Crown Court on August 7, 2026, with a minimum term of 20 years before he can be considered for release.
The sentence followed his conviction for murdering 33-year-old Okirie, popularly known as Uche, at Somerleyton House, where both men lived.
According to Norfolk Constabulary, Katabana lured Okirie into the communal corridor through WhatsApp messages before attacking him with a knife on November 22, 2025.
CCTV footage showed Okirie using his phone when Katabana, who was already armed with a knife, attacked him. He stabbed Okirie and repeatedly kicked him in the head as he lay on the floor.
Okirie was pronounced dead at the scene at about 6:01am. A post-mortem examination found that he died from a stab wound to the chest.
After the attack, Katabana activated the building’s fire alarm before walking to Bethel Street Police Station, where he surrendered and told officers, “I have killed someone, I think.”
The murder weapon was never recovered, while Katabana repeatedly responded “no comment” during police interviews.
He initially pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, with his defence citing a traumatic upbringing in the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, a jury convicted him of murder after an 11-day trial in June.
The judge noted Katabana’s previous convictions and said he had a tendency to resolve issues through violence.
Senior Investigating Officer Alix Wright described the killing as a “violent and unprovoked attack” and said Katabana had deliberately lured Okirie into the corridor after arming himself.
Okirie was a former economics student of the University of East Anglia.
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