The Federal Capital Territory High Court, Wuse Zone 2, Abuja, set October 17 as the date for ruling on Peter Nwachukwu’s no case submission application in light of the homicide and domestic violence-related suit instituted against him by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation on June 3, 2022.
Remember that Nwachukwu’s wife died on April 8, 2022, and several of her musical colleagues said that her husband mistreated her, leading to her death.
Following that, the Nigeria Police detained Nwachukwu and turned over his case file to the OAGF for prosecution.
After pleading not guilty to a 23-count charge including domestic abuse and homicide, Justice Njideka K. Nwosu-Iheme remanded the defendant to the Kuje Correctional Facility for the hearing and resolution of the case.
The prosecution called 17 witnesses to testify during the trial, which began on June 20, 2022 and ended on March 10, 2023.
The autopsy report on the dead, issued by the National Hospital, Abuja, was obtained exclusively.
The report saw no mark of violence on the deceased and listed the causes of her death to include “generalized organ pallor, bilateral leg swelling, fluid in the sac containing the heart. Tumor deposits in and on the heart, lungs, kidneys. Massively enlarged heart” and “fluid around the lungs which restrict breathing.”
Mr. A. Aliyu, Nwachukwu’s lawyer, proceeded to file a no case submission, meaning that his client has no case to answer.
The prosecutor’s evidence of medical practitioners, according to the lawyer, entirely exonerated his client from the accusation of responsible homicide.
He noted that the medical practitioners testified that the deceased did not suffer any form of violence resulting to her death, adding that the reported confirmed his client’s wife died “solely as a result of outgrowth tumors, which resulted in cardiac tamponade, the primary cause of death and abnormal growth of tissue (cancer) which is secondary cause of death.”
The lawyer accused Nwachukwu’s in-laws of trying to frame him up, insisting the autopsy “shows there was no mark of violence on the deceased at the time the autopsy was conducted.”
The lawyer claimed that the children (aged 14 and under) were “tutored” on what to say during their testimony against their father.
Aliyu urged the court to upload his no case submission and dismiss the defendant at the resumption of hearings on Tuesday.
The prosecution’s legal team requested that the court dismiss the defendant’s submission while ordering him to enter defense in the case.
Justice Nwosu-Iheme then adjourned the case for a decision.
