Court acquits girl who allegedly killed father's friend

The magistrate court in Lagos has acquitted a fifteen year old girl who was accused of murder.

The fifteen year old girl whose name is withheld, was accused of killing her father's 51 year old friend, Babatunde Ishola when he was trying to rape her. 

The Lagos Magistrate court which was sitting in Yaba on Wednesday released her based on the legal advice of the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution that the “case lacked ingredients of murder”.

Lesotho former first lady sent back to prison

Wife of the former Lesotho Prime Minister, Thomas Thabane, has been sent back to prison. The former first lady was charged with the murder of her husband’s first wife. 

However, she applied for a judicial review but was still sent back to prison on Wednesday after the court annulled her judicial review.

In February, the 43 year old Maesaiah Thabane, 43, was charged for her involvement in the murder of Lipolelo Thabane who is the first wife of Thomas Thabane, in 2017. 

She spent one night in jail before a High Court freed her on a 1,000 maloti ($57) bail.

We gathered that Lipolelo was shot by gunmen shortly before her estranged husband's inauguration as the Prime Minister. This was also some weeks before he got married to Maesaiah back in 2017.

It was learnt that Thomas and Lipolelo were separated and had been going through a divorce before her death.

Last week Friday, the Lesotho Court of Appeal overturned the controversial judicial supervision measures she had enjoyed after she was granted bail in the case.

After the ruling, the police could not immediately arrest her because she was in South Africa with her husband who had travelled to the neighboring country for treatment.

On Wednesday she arrived at the magistrate court in Maseru under the escort of armed police officers.

Police wants Maryam Sanda's death sentence affirmed

The police in the Federal Capital Territory have urged the Court of Appeal in Abuja to affirm the death penalty imposed on Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death by the FCT High Court in Abuja for the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello.

Justice Yusuf Halilu of the FCT High Court had held his judgment delivered on January 27, 2017 circumstantial evidence proved that Maryam “fatally” stabbed her husband to death in Abuja on November 19, 2017.

Maryam, a mother of two, had on February 19, 2020 filed 20-ground notice of appeal, praying for an order discharging, and acquitting her.

She contended that the judgment convicting her was tainted by bias and prejudices resulting in her being denied her right to fair hearing.

She also noted that her conviction was based on circumstantial evidence despite that there was reasonable doubt arising from the evidence of the witnesses in her favour.

But in their brief of argument filed in opposition to the appeal, the police maintained that contrary to the appellant’s contention, the trial judge properly evaluated the evidence in arriving at his judgment.

Police lawyer, Mr. James Idachaba, confirmed the filing of the brief of argument to our correspondent on Sunday.

He argued in the brief that setting aside the judgment would serve as an incentive to angry and unhappy spouses to take the life of their partners.

Idachaba maintained that affirming the judgment imposed by the judge would serve as deterrent to others who wished to commit the crime of culpable homicide.

He contended that Maryam was guilty of taking her husband’s life and was therefore deserving of the death penalty imposed on her by the judge.

UNIBEN student, Uwaila raped and murdered in an RCCG church

A 100-level Microbiology student of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Uwaila Omozuwa, has been confirmed dead after being raped and beaten inside her local church.

The 22-year-old student who goes to read everyday at The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Edo Province 10, Ikpoba Hill, Benin, was attacked with a fire extinguisher by unknown men on Wednesday, May 27.

A family source said Uwaila died on Saturday midnight at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) where she was rushed to after the attack. He said,

“The church’s security officer had gone to collect the keys to the church from its keeper when he was told that there was someone in the church already.

He got to the church only to find Uwaila in a pool of b l o o d and next to her was the fire extinguisher which was used to bash her face.

He ran back to inform the key keeper and his wife, who went to the church to meet her lifeless, thinking she was dead. After careful observation, they noticed she moved her hand and quickly rushed her to the hospital.

It was at the hospital that Uwaila revealed she was reading all alone when some unknown men came into the church, beat, raped and hit her head with a fire extinguisher. However, she later passed on."

The incident has led to a social media campaign for justice with the hashtag #JusticeForUwa.

Teenager, 5 others arraigned for cultism, murder and robbery

On Wednesday, a teenager, Mariam Adesewa and 60 year old Mukaila Raji appeared alongside four others before an Osun State Chief Magistrates’ Court sitting in Osogbo for alleged membership of an unlawful society and murder of two persons in Ede.

The other suspects are Kasali Serifu, Alabi Sefiu, Nureni Tirimisiyu and Taiwo Kareem, who were also accused of being members of a secret society, the Apete-Isagba cult.

They were arraigned before Magistrate Olusegun Ayilara on 13 counts bordering on conspiracy, armed robbery, murder, cultism and malicious damage.

The prosecutor, Elisa Olusegun, said Serifu, Sefiu, Tirimisiyu, Kareem and Raji shot dead one Omoniyi Olukunle and Tajudeen Lukman at different times in Ede.

He added that the accused also attempted to kill Surajudeen Kareem and Yinusa Sherif when they shot at them.

Olusegun also said five of the accused dispossessed Olukunle of his Bajaj motorcycle and the sum of N5,000 before they killed him.

The teenager, Mariam was alleged to be a member of the Apete-Isagba group.

The offences were said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 324 of the Criminal Code, Cap. 34, Vol. II, Laws of Osun State of Nigeria, 2002.

The plea of the accused was taken for malicious damage and membership of a cult group, while the court declined taking their plea for murder and armed robbery.

Okobe Nagite and Kehinde Adepoju announced appearances for the accused and applied for their bail.

Ruling on the application, Ayilara said the counsel should file a formal bail application.

The magistrate remanded the six accused persons in the Ilesha Correctional Centre and adjourned the matter till July 8, 2020.

In a related development, an Ekiti State Chief Magistrates’ Court sitting in Ado Ekiti, on Wednesday, remanded a 24-year-old man, Adetomiwa Ogunleye, in police custody for being a cultist and having in his possession weeds suspected to be Indian hemp.

Chief Magistrate Abdulhamid Lawal ordered that the defendant be remanded pending advice from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

He adjourned the case till June 3, 2020, for mention.

Ogunleye is standing trial on two counts of membership of the Eiye Confraternity and being in possession of weeds suspected to be Indian hemp.

The police prosecutor, Inspector Caleb Leranmo, said the defendant committed the offences on May 24, 2020, in Ikole-Ekiti. He said, 

“The defendant confessed that he was a member of the Eiye Confraternity. Weeds suspected to be Indian hemp were also found in the possession of the defendant.

The offences contravene sections 4 (i) of the Secret Cult Abolition Law, 2017 and 5 (b) of the Indian Hemp Act.”

Court remands suspect over alleged murder

An Ado Ekiti Chief Magistrates’ Court has remanded a 36-year-old man, Kehinde Awosusi, in police custody over the alleged murder of one Mr Ojo Oluwatuyi.

The defendant, charged to court by the Ekiti State Police Command, is standing trial on a charge of murder.

When the matter came up in court on Thursday, the police prosecutor, Inspector Caleb Leranmo, alleged that the defendant committed the offence on April 19 in Erinjiyan-Ekiti. Leranmo, while stating how the alleged murder occurred, said,

“The deceased hit the defendant’s mother with his motorcycle. When the defendant got to the scene of the incident, he (the defendant) smashed a plank on the head of the deceased. The deceased died before he got to the hospital.”

According to him, the offence contravened Section 319(1) of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.

Leranmo said the case file had been duplicated and forwarded to the office of the Director of Public Prosecution for advice.

The plea of the defendant was not taken. The Chief Magistrate, Mr Abdulhamid Lawal, ordered that the defendant should be remanded in police custody, pending issuance of legal advice. The chief magistrate adjourned the case until June 10 for mention.

Pregnant mother stabs lover to death

Hell has no fury like a woman scorned. That much was proven in the life of Mr. Anyakwo Mohammed whose lover stabbed to death for impregnating another woman. In a sensational confession to the Nasarawa State Command of the Nigerian Securities and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Veronica rendered an account of how she drove a knife into her husband’s chest during a quarrel, causing him to die before he could be rushed to the hospital.

Already, the NSCDC has vowed to charge her to court for murder.

Narrating the events that culminated in the fatal incident, Veronica said her late Mohammed refused her request that she should allow him to make a call with his phone, and the situation resulted in a heated argument. She said:

“I was roasting a yam for him because he was very hungry, but a disagreement broke out in the process. I went inside the room to pick the knife with which I would peel the yam.

As the quarrel continued, I told him that he would no longer eat from the yam and that he should go and eat at the place of the woman he impregnated.

He got angry, stood up and held my hand in a bid to forcibly collect the knife from me so that he would peel the yam by himself.

As we dragged the knife, its sharp end drove into his chest, causing a deep cut and serious bleeding. It was in the night, so before they could rush him to the hospital, he died.”

Expressing regrets over the incident, Veronica said she would not have picked a quarrel with her late husband if she had any inkling that it would result in his death.

“I would not have engaged in a quarrel with him if I knew. I loved him so much even though he disappointed me.

May God Almighty forgive all my sins and his shortcomings. I believe that God will take my husband to heaven to be with Him. May his gentle soul find peace.

His death was not deliberate. I will forever miss him. I didn’t mean to kill him. I will continue to pray for his soul for the rest of my life.

The only promise I will make is that nobody will ever take his place in my heart. I am two months pregnant for him, apart from the two-year-old daughter we already had. My prayer is that the unborn baby would be a male child so that I would name it after him as a mark of honour.

It is clear to me now that I have made a big mistake by killing my husband and his spirit may hunt me for the rest of my life. But God knows it was not intentional.”

The tragic incident, which occurred in the backwoods of Obene Ward in Keana Local Government Area, Nasarawa State, on April 28, 2020, saw everyone who heard or saw the gory details reeling in shock.

In her no-holds-barred confession at the state command of the NSCDC, 22-year-old Veronica blamed her husband for the tragic end to their marriage, which she claimed started on a good note before the irreconcilable disagreement set in, even though they were not legally married.

In an emotion laden voice during an interview with our correspondent, she recounted the fatal incident that led to her stabbing her husband to death.

“She explained that she was staying with her grandmother before she died and her uncle took her to Keana Local Government Area to live with him. It was during her stay with her uncle that she met her late husband who impregnated her outside of wedlock.

Veronica, a primary school dropout, said her late husband dated her for four years before he impregnated her with a promise that he would marry her if she converted to Islam. She said:

“My parents who brought me to the world have humiliated, cheated and frustrated my entire life. If I knew early enough that the people I stayed with were not my biological parents, I would have run away from them. I was deceived and introduced to fake parents by my own blood sister.

What a wicked world! My parents violated my human right and my late husband, Anyakwo Mohammed, who impregnated me without paying my bride price, deceived me.

It was frustration and anger that pushed me into stabbing my late husband. Bringing in another lady with pregnancy worsened the situation.

Since this incident occurred, I have been very unhappy. I called my husband’s brother who works with the Nasarawa Broadcasting Service (NBS) to plead on my behalf. I have sinned against them.

My late husband’s brother said I should not worry; that it was how God wanted it, for there was nothing they could do to bring their late brother back to life.

I am begging the Commandant of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to forgive me and help me to get out of my predicament.

I was arrested by the NSCDC. I am being neglected by my family members. Even the people I regard as my parents have also abandoned me to my fate.

I regret my action. May his gentle soul rest in peace. I did not know that he would die. I had been having a misunderstanding with my late husband over a woman he impregnated and it led to constant quarrels and fighting. I got tired of it all.

I returned from my ‘parents’ house and was told that Mohammed was with another lady whom he impregnated.

When I asked him if the pregnancy was his, he refuted it. He said the lady was his girlfriend but the pregnancy was not his.

We were staying together with the lady but she left us before the incident occurred.

My late husband promised to marry me if I could change my religion. But when we started having constant quarrels, I was discouraged about it.”

She explained further that her late lover visited her people twice and bought them some items as an in-law. She said:

“I have a two-year-old baby for him. The baby is in Lafia with my husband’s family. But shortly after we had the baby, I did not understand him again even though we were together.

Our relationship broke down irretrievably with the damming discovery that he was sexually involved with another woman and had impregnated her and was even planning to bring her in, all because I refused to convert to Islam.”

Already, the NSCDC has vowed to charge her to court for murder.

I killed my brother because he was father's favourite – 20-yr-old boy

Operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team, IRT, have arrested a 20-year-old cattle rustler and alleged kidnapper, Ibrahim Abdullahi, who allegedly masterminded the robbery and killing of his elder brother, Kadade, in Amana MaiKasuwa, Kaduna state.

Abdulahi, who was arrested alongside one Hassan Amadu, was said to have contracted a five-man gang of armed robbers. He, however, ran into trouble, three months after. In his confession, he said;

“My father married four wives and had so many children. I don’t know what was so special about Kadade that my father would prefer him to his other children.

I was never sent to regular school but Arabic school in Kaduna. It was only Kadade who attended primary and secondary school. My father said he wanted all of us to be farmers, yet he kept calling us illiterates that cannot speak English.

How can I speak English when my father did not send me to school? I had to get married to convince him that I was old enough to handle responsibilities. As soon as I got married, my father gave me only 20 cows and two plots of land.

My brother sold some cows and made N1.7million and was making noise about it. My father was also very happy about it and asked him to keep the entire money.

We expected him to share the money. That day I was so broke and asked my father for money. He started insulting me and asked me to learn to be responsible like Kadade.

I was so bitter and I immediately called a member of our gang, Haruna and told him about the money in my house. I asked them to come and also make sure that they kill my brother.

Although I now regret my action but I thought that his death would make my father allow me to control some of his businesses. My father was devastated but I consoled him that it was Allah’s wish.

In the morning, I went to the bush to meet them and they told me that it was only N300,000 that they found with my brother. I collected N100,000 as my share since I was the one who brought the job.”