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Dismissed soldier says he helped lover take her own life

Published

10 years ago

March 31, 2017

Sunday Umaru, the soldier who stabbed his lover and naval officer to death last year, has been dragged before a Barkin-Ladi High Court in Plateau, for allegedly killing his lover, Charity Thomas, over a phone call.

The married man was a private in the Nigerian Army and on posting at the Special Task Force (STF), sector 7, Barkin-Ladi, at the time of the incident, on January 23, 2016.

The court hearing, scheduled for March 30, could not hold due to the absence of Justice Samson Gang.

Umaru was first arraigned on July 14, 2016 on a one-count charge of culpable homicide.

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He was accused of killing his lover Ms. Thomas by stabbing her with a knife in the stomach and slaughtering her thereafter. Mr. Umaru attacked the woman who had arrived from Kaduna to visit him.

According to the prosecutor, W.T Awe, of the Plateau State Ministry of Justice, the accused person committed the crime on January 23, 2016 in Barkin-Ladi.

Mr. Awe, during the arraignment, told the court that the Nigeria Army had court-martialed the accused, dismissed him after they found him guilty, and handed him over to the police for prosecution.

He said the accused person 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 his statement, Umaru said the accused alleged that the deceased used a kitchen knife to stab herself after which he removed the knife and `helped’ her to complete the act by slaughtering her,” Awe stated.

During investigation, the state prosecutor said, police discovered several gory pictures and videos of the deceased that Umaru took in his phone, immediately after the murder.

The accused has, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.