Dismissed soldier arraigned in court for killing lover, granted bail

A dismissed military man, Sunday Umaru, who allegedly killed his lover, Charity Thomas, over a misunderstanding, has been arraigned before a Barkin-Ladi High Court in Plateau and granted bail.

Justice Samson Gang admitted the accused to bail in the sum of N200,000 and two sureties in like sum.

Gang, who ordered that the sureties must reside within the jurisdiction of the court, said that 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.

Umaru was a Private in the Nigerian Army, serving with the Special Task Force (STF), sector 7, Barkin Ladi, at the time of the incident. He was court martial and consequently dismissed from the Nigerian Army on January 23, 2016. He was first arraigned on July 14, 2016 on a one-count charge of culpable homicide.

He was specifically accused of killing his lover, Thomas, who came to visit him from Kaduna, by stabbing her with a knife in the stomach and slaughtering her thereafter.

According to the prosecutor, Mr W.T Awe, of the Plateau State Ministry of Justice, the accused person committed the crime on Jan 23, 2016 in Barkin Ladi, adding that the accused 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,” Awe stated.

Awe further quoted the accused as saying that he was in the sitting room while Charity was in the kitchen at 7pm on Jan 23, when Charity’s phone rang and he picked the call.

The accused, in the statement, said that a man’s voice at the other end insisted on speaking with Thomas, but that he (accused) demanded to know who he (caller) was adding that instead of answering his inquiries, the voice rained insults on him.

Umaru, according to the statement, dropped the call, went to the kitchen and asked Charity who the caller was, but that Thomas refused to provide answers to his questions, opting to remind him that he (Umaru) was a married man.

The accused further claimed that Thomas, in a fit of anger, called off the relationship and declared that she was no more interested in him (Umaru), especially since her parents had consistently warned her against the affair.

“Umaru said that he got angry and slapped her, which angered Thomas, who quickly picked a knife and stabbed herself in the stomach,” Awe told the court.

The statement further indicated that Thomas fell down thereafter, with the accused removing the knife from her stomach and slaughtering her “to complete the job she started.”

According to Awe, the accused was court-martial by the military and dismissed, after which he was handed over to the police for prosecution adding that during investigation, the police discovered several gory pictures and videos of the deceased that the accused took in his phone, immediately after the murder.