Peter Nwachukwu, the husband of the late Nigerian gospel musician, Osinachi Nwachukwu, has been sentenced to death by hanging.
He was sentenced by the Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja.
Justice Njideka Nwosu-Iheme delivered the judgment on Monday after dismissing Nwachukwu’s no-case submission.
He was found guilty by the court of culpable homicide over his wife’s death on 8 April 2022. Nwachukwu, who was arraigned on 3 June 2022, faced a 23-count charge brought by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, including culpable homicide, spousal battery, cruelty to children, and criminal intimidation.
Throughout the trial, the prosecution presented 17 witnesses, among them two of the deceased’s children, and tendered 25 exhibits. The defence called four witnesses and presented four exhibits.
Justice Nwosu-Iheme ruled that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Although Nwachukwu’s lawyer, Reginald Nwali, pleaded for leniency, the court sentenced him to death by hanging on Count 1 and handed down additional prison sentences of between six months and three years on several other counts, along with fines totaling N700,000.
Osinachi Nwachukwu, who rose to fame in 2017 with her collaboration on the gospel hit “Ekwueme”.
On 8 April, Osinachi, 42 died at a hospital in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. Her husband and manager, Peter Nwachukwu, a pastor, said she had been suffering from an undisclosed illness, but in the days that followed family members and friends alleged that she had died from injuries sustained from domestic abuse.
Her four children told Nigerian authorities that Nwachukwu had suffered constant violence at the hands of their father, who they said had sworn them to secrecy. People who knew the couple cast Peter Nwachukwu as a dominating figure, controlling her finances and decisions.
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