Five months after shooting his colleague and lover to death, a jealous Airforce officer has been sentenced to death by hanging.
A military tribunal set up by the Nigerian Air Force has sentenced Airman Ben Kalu to death by hanging after he was found guilty of shooting his lover, Airwoman Solape Oladipupo, to death on March 12, 2017.
Punch reports that the judgment which started at about 9 am on Tuesday, August 15, dragged till 4 pm when it was stood down before the panelists reconvened at 7.30 pm to pass their judgment.
The Judge Advocate, Flight Lieutenant M.A. Umoh, who read out the 70-page court findings which lasted for about two hours, listed the eight-count charges against the 21-year-old Airman Kalu to include murder, attempted murder, house breaking, impersonation, murder, among others.
The defense counsel, Abimiku Ewuga who urged the court to temper justice with mercy, said the accused was his family breadwinner but the President of the court, Group Capt. Elisha Bindul , rejected the plea and found the accused guilty in six out of the eight counts, and sentenced him to death by hanging, subject to the confirmation of the conveying authority.
Recall that Airman Kalu had shot Oladipupo, aka Shomzy, to death at her Corporal and Below Quarters, Compound 9, Air Force Base, Makurdi, on the suspicion that she was cheating on him with a member of the National Youth Service Corps serving in the state.
After shooting her to death, Airman Kalu had tried to commit suicide after leaving a suicide note detailing the reasons he had to take the step of murdering his lover.
The murder of the young lady had raised a lot of dust with Nigerians urging the Airforce authority to bring the suspect to book and make sure he paid for his crimes.
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