Dismissed soldier arraigned for killing lover

Sunday Umaru, who allegedly killed his lover, Charity Thomas, has been arraigned before a Barkin-Ladi High Court in Plateau State.

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 martialled 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 accused of stabbing Charity, who came to visit him from Kaduna, in the stomach.

According to the prosecutor, Mr W.T Awe of the Plateau State Ministry of Justice, the accused told the police that the deceased visited him sometime in January 2016, after which they had a misunderstanding which led to her death.

“In his statement with the police the accused alleged that the deceased stabbed 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 7 p.m. that day when Charity’s phone rang and he picked the call.

A man’s voice at the other  end insisted on speaking with Charity, but he (accused), demanded to know who the caller was, adding that instead of answering his inquiries, the caller used foul language to reply him.

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

Charity, 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.

The statement went further that: Charity fell down thereafter, while the accused removed the knife from her stomach.”

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

According to Awe, the accused was court-martialed 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.

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.

He thereafter adjourned the matter to March 30, for hearing.