A Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting in Makurdi, Benue State, on Friday ordered a 42-year-old farmer, Matthew Bem to be remanded in a correction centre in Makurdi for allegedly killing his wife, Mngusonum Bem.
Bem who lives at Korinya Settlement in Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue, was charged with culpable homicide.
However, the Chief Magistrate, Mr T.K. Atta, did not take his plea for want of jurisdiction.
Atta adjourned the matter until Dec. 20, 2023, for further mention.
The Prosecution Counsel, Insp Godwin Ato, had earlier informed the court that the case was transferred from the Divisional Police Headquarters, Tse-Agberagba, on Oct. 26, 2023, via a letter dated the same day.
Ato explained that the letter stated that on Oct. 24, 2023, information was received from the officer-in-charge of Korinya Police Station that a man had killed his wife.
According to the letter, on that same fateful October 24, the defendant and his 30-year-old wife engaged in a fight and in the process, the defendant picked a knife and stabbed his wife, who bled to death on the spot.
The prosecutor said the defendant was arrested during a police investigation, and he voluntarily confessed to committing the crime.
The offence, the prosecutor said, contravened section 222 of the penal code law of Benue, 2004.
