The estranged couple before the incident
A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Apo, Abuja, has sentenced a man, Ayedun Makanjuola, to four years in prison for running over and killing his wife, Adenike Ayedun, a World Bank staff.
The prosecution counsel, Adama Musa, told the court that Makanjuola has, after a misunderstanding with his wife, reversed his car and ran over her, which led to her death on May 7, 2021, in Gwagwalada.
Delivering judgment, the trial judge, Justice Angela Otaluka, held that the late wife’s act was provocative when she threw a stone at the rear windscreen of his car while he was trying to drive out of their residence.
Justice Otaluka said that she did not consider Makanjuola reversing his car as a retaliation but as a 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,” she said.
“I find the defendant guilty of culpable homicide not punishable with death and convict him accordingly,” the judge said.
Earlier, the defence counsel, Kolade Adeboyega, had told the court that the defendant was a responsible man and was planning a trip to bring their two children home with his wife before the incident.
Adeboyega, therefore, urged the court to consider the children who were presently with their grandmother.
Justice Angela, however, sentenced the defendant to four years imprisonment, inclusive of the two years, 10 months he had already spent, citing Sections 222 and 224 of the Penal Code.
