A 34-year-old dismissed soldier, Sunday Umaru, was on Wednesday sentenced to death by hanging, for hacking his lover to death over a message found on her phone. Justice S.P. Gang of a Plateau High Court sitting in Barkin Ladi handed down the sentence after finding Mr Umaru guilty of killing his girlfriend, Charity Thomas, on January 23, 2016.
Mr Gang, in his judgement, declared that Umaru “mercilessly took the life of Charity Thomas in cold blood” and had to face the full wrath of the law.He added, “This sentence is mandatory; the law states that any person convicted of murder shall be punished with death by hanging. The sentence of this court upon you is that you, Sunday Umaru, will be hanged by the neck until you are dead. May God have mercy on your soul.”
Umaru was dragged before the court on July 14, 2016, for allegedly killing his lover. The former soldier, a married man, was a Private in the Nigerian Army and was serving at the Special Task Force (STF), Sector 7, Barkin Ladi, at the time of the incident. At his arraignment, Umaru faced a one-count charge of culpable homicide. He was specifically accused of killing his lover, Charity, who visited him from Kaduna, by stabbing her with a knife in the stomach, slaughtering her thereafter and dumping the body by the road side. The prosecutor, Emmanuel Awe, said that Charity’s lifeless body was found on January 24, 2016, by neighbours and some soldiers, who trailed the blood marks to the accused person’s house. He said 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.
The Nigerian Army had quickly tried the accused and dismissed him after finding him guilty of killing his lover. Counsel to the accused, David Adudu, told NAN after the judgment that he was not satisfied with the death sentence death passed by the court.
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