The police in Plateau State have arrested a 42-year-old man, Gundumi Saya, over the death of his married lover, Hajara Markus, during a night with him.
According to the Police charge sheet currently before Justice Daniel Longji of the Plateau State High Court, Jos, Mr Saya, who has three wives and 14 children, is a resident of Zango-Dinya in Bassa Local Government of Plateau.
The accused, who is being charged with culpable homicide, allegedly committed the offence on November 21, 2018.
The police alleged that the suspect, on November 21, committed the act of adultery with the deceased when he lured her out of her matrimonial home to have sexual intercourse with her, an offence that contravened section 368 of the Penal Code.
The charge sheet further said that the suspect intentionally dumped the body of the deceased by the roadside, after he realised that she had died in his custody while he was having sexual relations with him.
It said that the accused refused to inform the Police of Mrs Markus’ death, thereby contravening sections 189 and 102 of the Penal Code.
The suspect, in a confessional statement, however, denied killing his lover, stating that he woke up to make love to her in the middle of the night only to find her dead.
“I have known Hajara before she got married; we have been in a relationship with her for a long time. In between, she got married and got divorced twice, but we still kept on seeing each other until she got married again a few years ago.
“Whenever I wanted to have sexual relations with her, I invite her to the bush where we will `catch our fun’, and she will return home.
“On the said date, we arranged to meet at my friend’s place, one Ojukwu, who is also married, after she told her husband that she was going for a wedding in Bauchi State.
“As agreed, we met at Ojukwu’s house and he (Ojukwu), gave us a room to pass the night.
“Ojukwu’s wife later sent a boy with `garri’ (cassava flour), and kuli-kuli (groundnut cake), to Hajara, which she soaked and took, after which she retired to sleep.
“I woke up at 2 a.m. to make love to her but discovered that she was motionless.
“I quickly ran to Ojukwu’s room to alert him, but his wife told me that he did not sleep at home.
“I called him on phone to tell him what happened; when he came, I suggested that we should report the matter to the police, but he told me not to do that because I would land into serious trouble.’’
The statement quoted the accused as claiming that Mr Ojukwu advised him to dump the body by the roadside, which they both did, and went their separate ways.
The statement said further: “Six days after we dumped Hajara’s body, I heard `some commotion’ in front of my house and when I peeped, I saw policemen who came to arrest me.
“I ran to the bush and stayed there for three days after which my daughter called to tell me that my elder brother had been taken away by the police.
“I felt bad when I heard that sad news and decided to surrender myself to the police.’’
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Thursday in Jos, Mr Saya maintained that he had no hand in the death of the woman.
“I did not kill her. But I may not know if my friend’s wife poisoned the `garri’ she gave her because that was the last thing she took before going to bed.’’
Husband to the deceased, Markus Jagaba, 44, in his statement, stated that his late wife took permission from him to attend a wedding at Jakandangiwa village in Bauchi State.
Mr Jagaba said that he allowed her to go because it was a family occasion and he did not suspect that she was going to meet another man.
“My wife told me she was going to attend a family occasion at Jakandangiwa village in Bauchi State. I did not argue with her. I simply allowed her to go because I didn’t know she had other plans.
“I became worried when she did not return home after the wedding and did not respond to my phone calls. I called her family members and was shocked to learn that she was not at the wedding.
“When we did not see her after searching everywhere, my family and I reported the matter to police after which I was called by the police, some days later, to come over and identify the corpse which I confirmed to be my wife’s.’’
Elder brother to the suspect, Yakuba Saya, told NAN that no one in the family knew that he (suspect), was dating a married woman until the police stormed into their house to make the arrest.
“I was at home when the police barged in to arrest my brother. When they could not find him, they arrested me,’’ he said, adding that his brother confessed to him that he actually dumped the body of his lover on the roadside.
“He told me he actually dumped the body of the women on the roadside, but insisted that he was not behind her death.’’
NAN reports that the police have charged the suspect to court on a three-count charge of adultery, culpable homicide and failure to give notice/information to a public servant.
Mr Saya is to be arraigned on April 1 before Justice Daniel Longji of the Plateau State High Court sitting in Jos. (NAN)
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