A Nigerian
soldier, Sunday Umaru, has been dragged before a Barkin-Ladi High Court in
Plateau, for allegedly killing his lover, Charity Thomas, over a phone call.
Mr. Umaru, a
married man, was a private in the Nigerian Army and on posting at the Special
Task Force (STF), sector 7, Barkin-Ladi, at the time of the incident, on
January 23, 2016.
NAN reports
that the hearing, scheduled for March 30, could not hold due to the absence of
Justice Samson Gang.
Mr. Umaru was
first arraigned on July 14, 2016 on a one-count charge of culpable homicide.
He was accused
of killing his lover Ms. Thomas by stabbing her with a knife in the stomach and
slaughtering her thereafter. Mr. Umaru attacked the woman who had arrived from
Kaduna to visit him.
According to
the prosecutor, W.T Awe, of the Plateau State Ministry of Justice, the accused
person committed the crime on January 23, 2016 in Barkin-Ladi.
Mr. Awe,
during the arraignment, told the court that the Nigeria Army had
court-martialed the accused, dismissed him after they found him guilty, and
handed him over to the police for prosecution.
He said the
accused person had told the police, in a confessional statement, that the
deceased visited him sometime in January 2016, after which they had a
misunderstanding which led to her death.
“In the
statement, the accused alleged that the deceased used a kitchen knife to stab
herself after which he (accused), removed the knife and `helped’ her to
complete the act by slaughtering her,” Mr. Awe stated.
Mr. Awe
further quoted the accused as saying that he was in the sitting room while Ms.
Thomas was in the kitchen at about 7 p.m. when the woman’s phone rang and he
picked the call.
The accused,
in the statement, said that a man’s voice insisted on speaking with Ms. Thomas,
but that he (accused) demanded to know who he (caller) was.
He claimed
that instead of answering his inquiries, the voice rained insults on him.
Mr. Umaru,
according to the statement, dropped the call, went to the kitchen and asked Ms.
Thomas who the caller was, but the woman refused to provide answers to his
questions, instead reminding Mr. Umaru that he was a married man.
The accused
further claimed that Ms. Thomas, in a fit of anger, called off the relationship
and declared that she was no more interested, especially since her parents had
consistently warned her against the affair with a married man.
“Umaru said
that he got angry and slapped her, which angered Charity, who quickly picked a
knife and stabbed herself in the stomach,” Mr. Awe told the court.
The statement
further indicated that Charity fell down thereafter, with the accused removing
the knife from her stomach and slaughtering her “to complete the job she
started”.
Mr. Umaru
thereafter took her body outside, left it there and reported for duty at 8pm.
The prosecutor
said the accused, from his duty point, went to see his family at the Maxwell
Kobe Cantonment, Rukuba Barracks, after telling his boss that his wife wanted
to see him over “a very pressing issue”.
“Charity’s
lifeless body was found the next day by neighbours, while military men, who
came to evacuate the body, trailed the blood marks to the accused person’s
house.
“Friends of
the accused also recognised the girl as Umaru’s lover, who was seen with him
the previous day,” Mr. Awe told the court.
He said a team
of military men, mobilised to go after the accused, arrested him at his home in
the barracks, while in the company of his family.
According to
Mr. Awe, the accused was court-martialed by the military and dismissed, after
which he was handed over to the police for prosecution.
He said during
investigation, police discovered several gory pictures and videos of the
deceased that the accused took in his phone, immediately after the murder.
The accused
has, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
NAN reports
that at his first appearance in July 2016, Mr. Umaru’s counsel, David Adudu,
prayed the court to grant his client bail, citing section 36(5) of the 1999
constitution which says that an accused is presumed innocent until otherwise
proven.
Mr. Adudu had
added that if the bail was granted, his client would neither jump bail nor
interfere with police investigation.
Justice Samson
Gang admitted the accused to bail in the sum of N200,000 and two sureties in
like sum.
Mr. Gang, who
ordered that the sureties must reside within the jurisdiction of the court,
said they must submit two copies of their recent passport photographs, copies
of their national ID cards, GCE certificates and copies of their Rights of
Occupancy.
He thereafter
adjourned the matter to March 30, for hearing.
With the judge
not available to hear the case on Friday, the matter was adjourned to May 25.
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