A 56-year-old man, Mr. Christopher Chiabata, on Tuesday confessed to Police in Bayelsa State that he killed his 41-year-old wife in self-defence during a fight over money in their home at Onuebum Community in Ogbia Local Government Area.
According to the police report, Chiabata struck his wife with a pestle during the fight and after realizing that he has committed murder, he took Sniper to commit suicide before neighbours resuscitated and handed him over to Police.
Speaking to newsmen while being paraded by the police, Chiabata further explained that he has been married to his wife for 30 years with five children but they have been fighting frequently because she had the habit of denying him access to monies they jointly generated from their farming business.
He said “whenever I take our produce to the market, she does not give me an account of the sales. For two years she refused to give me an account of the money we have realized from the farm. So one day, I called her to give me an account and when she refused we started fighting until neighbours separated us.
“In anger, the next day I asked her to leave the farm business for me to handle alone. One day when I returned from the farm, she had packed my things out of the house. That day we fought again and neighbours separated and settled us.
“Fed up the whole development, I asked her to pack out of the house the following day but she refused. Then we started fighting at that point. She is stronger than me so each time we fight she would beat me mercilessly. So this time as she was beating me, out of anger, I struck her with a pestle.
“It was at that point she collapsed. Neighbours helped rush her to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital where she died. When I heard she had died, I took Sniper in an attempt to kill myself but neighbours were quick to come to my rescue and took me to the hospital.”
Also paraded by the police is a five-man gang that posed as Environmental Sanitation Authority officials to kidnap and rob unsuspecting road users around Yenagoa metropolis.
The suspects – Headman Eniye, Ebi Tonbofa, Mokubo Sorgwe, Preye Daniel and Lucky Okuwenjo – were arrested after kidnapping a staff of the state Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning to their hideout in Gbarain Community where they demanded ransom for her release.
The Commissioner of Police Bayelsa State Command, CP Mike Okoli, while addressing newsmen said that the suspects have confessed to the crime and that locally made revolver pistols with three live ammunition were recovered from them.
Following a tip-off operatives also arrested one Shehu Yola and Sunday Emmanuel at Okaka while transporting a truckload of 444 Mattresses belonging to flood victims in the State to Kano State.
According to the Police Commissioner, further investigation led to the arrest of other suspects namely Doloebiowei Line, Richard Dino, Yahaya Adamu and Obiri Rowland who sold the mattresses to the former.
Also, one Lazarus Josiah, a 29-year-old male has been arrested for strangling his 59-year-old mother Mrs Chain Bishop to death for reasons yet-to-be ascertained in Odioma Community in Brass Local Government Area.
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