54-year-old man charged to court, magistrate declines jurisdiction
A 54-year-old man, Eseni Chima, has been docked before an Abakaliki Magistrate’s Court for allegedly killing his wife, Ugochukwu Chima.
Chima is facing a one-count charge of murder.
But Magistrate Chinedu Agama did not take his plea for want of jurisdiction.
He directed the police to send the case file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice and adjourned the matter until December 31 for further hearing.
Earlier, Prosecutor Emmanuel Monday told the court that the defendant allegedly committed the offence on September 4 at 60 Ogbaga Road, Kpirikpiri in Abakaliki Local Government Area in Ebonyi State.
Monday alleged that Chima did cause the death of the deceased by beaten her with iron rods, an offence he said is punishable under Section 319 (1) of the criminal code law, cap 33, Vol 1, laws of Ebonyi, 2009.
Defence counsel Daniel Onuoha appealed for bail of his client but it was rejected because the court said it lacked jurisdiction over the case, per reporting by Vanguard.
In another part of the world, a court in the United Kingdom on Tuesday sentenced to life jail the father and stepmother of Sara Sharif, their 10-year-old daughter they murdered after she suffered years of abuse they inflicted on her.
Urfan Sharif will serve at least 40 years in prison and Beinash Batool a minimum of 33 years.
Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, was also sentenced to a minimum of 16 years after being found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child.
Sara’s mother Olga Domin, who lives in Poland, called them “cowards” in a victim impact statement read out in court, adding: “You are sadists, although even this word isn’t enough for you. You are executioners.”
In his sentencing remarks, Mr Justice Cavanagh of the Old Bailey, London, noted that Sara had suffered more than 70 fresh injuries and 25 fractures at the time of her death.
“This poor child was battered with great force, again and again,” the judge said, as reported by Sky News.
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