DOMESTIC VIOLENCE;POLITICIAN REMANDED IN PRISON OVER WIFE'S DEATH

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, May 9, remanded a politician identified as Charles Eni-Umukoro over the murder of his wife, Louisa Eni-Umukoro, who was a director in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Justice Mary-Anne Aninih ordered the remand of Eni-Umukoro in Kuje Prison, FCT pending the hearing of his bail application.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) in February charged Umukoro with culpable homicide, which is punishable with death under Section 221 of the Penal Code. The defendant however denied the allegation.

According to the charge signed by Kenneth Ubanwa of the Legal/Prosecution Section of the Force Headquarters, Umukoro allegedly caused the death of the woman by “hitting her on the head which caused internal haemorrhage with the knowledge that her death would be the probable consequence.”

Attached with the charge is an autopsy report from the Department of Morbid Anatomy and Histopathology of the National Hospital in Abuja, which shows that the deceased died from ‘subdural haemorrhage’ resulting from two bruises on both sides of the neck, which the doctors said are products of ‘external force’.

The criminal charge followed a complaint by the deceased family, Eliab U. Ukponmwan of Oredo Local Government Area, Edo State, where they cited several incidents of violence among the two, which they alleged led to the deceased’s death on April 22, 2016.