Court jails man 4 years for running over, killing wife
A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Apo, Abuja on Wednesday sentenced one Ayedun Makanjuola to four years imprisonment for running over and killing his wife, Adenike.
Delivering judgment, Justice Angela Otaluka held that the court found the action of the deceased not deliberate, but due to loss of self control.
The judge said the wife‘s act was provocative when she threw away her husband’s food and also threw a stone at the rear windscreen of the car while he tried to drive out, adding that the court not consider Makanjuola reversing his car and running over his wife as a retaliation but rather due to loss of control of his feelings.
“It was not a deliberate action but sudden. The prosecution has failed to prove the intent of the defendant but has proven the offence of culpable homicide. I find the defendant guilty of culpable homicide not punishable with death and convict him,” she said.
Earlier, the defence counsel, Kolade Adeboyega had told the court that the defendant is a responsible man and was planning a trip to bring their two children home when the incident happened.
Adeboyega urged the court to consider the children who are presently with their maternal grandmother before passing judgment.
The prosecution counsel, Adama Musa, had informed the court that Makanjuola had in the course of reversing his vehicle and ran over his wife which led to her death on May 7, 2021 after a misunderstanding they had.
Musa said the woman sustained serious injuries and he had to rush her to hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Makanjuola in his defence, said he reversed his car in anger, and unknowingly hit the wife who was behind the car, adding that his brakes failed in the process.
The judge sentenced the defendant to four years imprisonment inclusive of the two years and 10 months he had already spent in custody while the case lasts. He said that the ruling was based on the provision of Sections 222 and 224 of the Penal Code.
Section 222 states that Culpable homicide is not punishable with death if the offender whilst deprived of the power of self control by grave and sudden provocation causes the death of the person who gave the provocation or causes the death of any other person by mistake or accident.
Section 224 on the other hand states that whoever commits culpable homicide not punishable with death, shall be punished with imprisonment for life or for any less term or with fine or with both.
