Cleaner jailed 20 years for killing boyfriend

A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Asokoro has sentenced a 22-year-old cleaner, Maryam Adewumi, to 20 years’ imprisonment for stabbing her 35-year-old boyfriend, Shallom Oliseh, to death. Adewumi was charged by the Commissioner of Police with culpable homicide punishable with death. Justice Njideka Nwosu-Iheme, however, held that the prosecution counsel, Adama Musa, had […]

A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Asokoro has sentenced a 22-year-old cleaner, Maryam Adewumi, to 20 years’ imprisonment for stabbing her 35-year-old boyfriend, Shallom Oliseh, to death.
Adewumi was charged by the Commissioner of Police with culpable homicide punishable with death.
Justice Njideka Nwosu-Iheme, however, held that the prosecution counsel, Adama Musa, had proven that Adewumi was guilty of culpable homicide not punishable with death.
“I find the defendant guilty of culpable homicide not punishable with death and convict her,” the judge ruled.
Defence counsel, Williams Ataguba, told the court that the convict had no previous criminal record and disclosed in her testimony that she is a mother of two.
Ataguba said the children needed proper care, adding that they had been staying with the convict’s grandmother before her death, while the convict’s parents are also deceased.
He pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, noting that Adewumi had already spent more than two years in detention and would improve herself if given another chance in life.
Justice Nwosu-Iheme, however, sentenced her to 20 years imprisonment, effective from July 5, 2024, the day she was arrested.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the prosecution told the court that Adewumi engaged in a physical fight with Oliseh and stabbed him in the chest with a knife in Kurudu, Abuja, on July 5, 2024.
Musa said the act caused Oliseh severe bodily injuries that eventually led to his death, which the convict knew was the probable consequence of her action.
According to the prosecution, the offence contravenes the provisions of Section 220(a) and (b) of the Penal Code and is punishable under Section 221.
Adewumi, however, told the court that she stabbed Oliseh in self-defence and had no intention of killing him. (NAN)