By Suoyo Ekubo
A 29-year-old married man, Douglas Tamunokopo, has been arraigned before Justice C.O Agbaza at the High Court, Federal Capital Territory, Maitama, Abuja, for allegedly killing his girlfriend, Udo Abigail, who aborted his unborn child without his consent.
The deceased who was said to be in a romantic relationship with Tamunokopo when she got pregnant, she found out that the defendant already had a family with two children in River State. Afterward she reportedly terminated the pregnancy.
This heated up a fight between the couple. However, it was gathered that after the fight, the defendant left for work, while Abigail remained in the room.
After neighbours discovered that the lady never came out from the defendant’s room, they forced their way in and saw her sitting on a chair, with a rope hung on a nail on the wall and tied around her neck.
Tamunokopo was later arrested and charged to court for allegedly killing Abigail. The charge against him read;
“That you, Douglas Tamunokopo, on September 1, 2016, around 3pm, at the Mogadishu Barracks, Abuja, in the Abuja Judicial Division, did cause the d€ath of your girlfriend, Udo Abigail, by strangulating her to death.”
While the police prosecutor, Wale Adeagbo noted that the offence was punishable under Section 221 of the Penal Code, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The investigative police officer, Inspector Thomas Zephaniah who recounted how the incident happened after being led in evidence by Adeagbo, said he received a call on September 1, 2016, about the murder incident at Mogadishu Barracks.
He said, “the officer in charge of the Homicide Section mobilised a team of police officers with me as an investigating police officer, to the scene where the incident occurred.
“There was a scene of purported suicide committed by a young lady. When the room of the accused person was opened, I saw a young lady seated on a plastic chair, with a rope of multiple entanglements tied to her neck, and a rope tied to a five-inch nail on the wall.
“The scene was photographed, the fingerprint was lifted, and the rope untied from the neck of the body. The corpse was thereafter moved to the National Hospital for examination.”
Justice Agbaza adjourned the matter till September 26, 2022, for cross-examination.
