On Friday, November 3, a Makurdi Chief Magistrate’s Court ordered the detention of one Matthew Bem in a correction center in Makurdi on charges of allegedly killing his wife, Mngusonum Bem. The 42-year-old farmer, residing in Korinya Settlement within the Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue, was brought before the court on a culpable homicide charge.
However, the Chief Magistrate, Mr. T.K. Atta, refrained from accepting his plea due to jurisdictional constraints. The case was adjourned until December 20, 2023, for further proceedings.
In an earlier statement, the Prosecution Counsel, Inspector Godwin Ato, informed the court that the case had been transferred from the Divisional Police Headquarters, Tse-Agberagba, on October 26, 2023, as indicated in a letter dated the same day. The letter detailed that on October 24, 2023, information was received from the officer-in-charge of Korinya Police Station, reporting that a man had fatally assaulted his wife.
According to the letter, on the tragic day of October 24, the defendant and his 30-year-old wife became embroiled in a physical altercation, during which the defendant wielded a knife and fatally wounded his wife, who succumbed to her injuries on the scene. The prosecutor revealed that the defendant had been apprehended during the course of a police investigation, and he had voluntarily admitted to the crime.
The alleged offense is in violation of Section 222 of the Penal Code Law of Benue, 2004
