News
Court Sentences Man To Death By Hanging For Killing Wife
An FCT High Court in Jabi, Abuja, yesterday, sentenced a 38-year-old man, Eric Chigbor, to death by hanging for killing his wife.
The police charged Chigbor with culpable homicide.
Justice Charles Agbaza, who found Chigbor guilty of killing his wife, Jessica, said the prosecution was able to prove, with cogent evidence, that the convict intentionally killed the deceased.
The judge rejected the defendant’s plea of not guilty, noting that based on the evidence before him, such plea was not plausible and that the prosecution was able to establish all the ingredients of culpable homicide as provided for in Section 220 of the Penal Code.
He said the offence contravened Sections 220 of the Penal Code and is punishable under Section 221 of the same statute.
In his judgment, Agbaza held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
He said, “In the circumstances, the court finds the defendant guilty of the charge of causing the death of Jessica, on February 3, 2015.
“He is accordingly convicted. Before the court pronounces sentence on the defendant, and noting the plea of the defence counsel and the response of the prosecution counsel, note that the plea of allocutus has no place here, in view of the mandatory nature of the sentence provided under the law, which the defendant is charged, having been found guilty.
“Consequently, with the mandatory position of the law as provided by Section 221 of the Penal Code Law, and in the light of the above, the punishment for the offence of culpable homicide which the defendant has been convicted of is hereby sentenced to death.
“This will serve as a deterrent to others because of the rising wave of either wife or husband beating, resulting to death in our society.
“The court does not have discretion to impose any other punishment, much as it may, the law must be fulfilled at all times and in all situations.
“The defendant, having been convicted for the offence of culpable homicide under Section 221 of the Penal Code as charged, is sentenced to death. The sentence of the court upon you is that you be hanged by the neck until you be dead, and may the Lord have mercy on your soul”, the judge said.
The judge concluded by informing the convict that he had right of appeal to the Appeal Court within 30 days.
The convict, who resided with his deceased wife at No 10, Off Sabongari Road, Bwari, Abuja, took his wife’s corpse to the hospital in the early hours of February 3, 2015, and told the Mortician that the deceased committed suicide by taking Sniper.
Other witnesses, including neighbours, the Mortician and the police gave different evidence.
The convict, a bakery worker, had admitted during cross-examination that he used to quarrel with his wife, a corps member at the time, but had never laid his hands on her.
He said he had come back from work the day she died to meet the door to his apartment open, and when he walked in, he saw his wife on the bed, and when he called her, she did not respond.
He said his wife committed suicide because she was indebted to some people, and she was hypertensive.
A pathological autopsy carried out suggested that the deceased had a heart condition which may have deteriorated as the result of the matrimonial crisis she was going through.
Neighbours, however, said he was constantly beating her, and he would lock the door to avoid them from interfering.
The Mortician said there were bruises to her face and other parts of her body when she was brought to the hospital.
Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.