*accused remanded in prison custody
By; Bala B. Bitrus, Minna
Was it a premeditated act, a carelessness or otherwise? A Magistrate court in Minna is hearing a murder case against Umar Wakili of Sabon Gida village of Gbako Local Government Area of Niger state whose locally made Dane gun went off at home in the remote village and killed his daughter inlaw to set tongues wagging as mourning pervades the small village.
The Minna Magistrate Court 6 is to determine the culpability of the man in his advanced age in a case brought before it involving the man whose dane gun went off and killed his daughter inlaw.
Umar Wakili was said to have returned from his farm where he had fetched fuel wood and loaded same on his motorcycle while carrying his loaded Dane gun hung up on his shoulders and arrived at home with his cargoe of fuel wood.
On getting home and in his attempt to offload his firewood, the bunch of fuel wood came crashing down on the ground and in his attempt to hold back his motorcycle from falling, his fingers went on the trigger of his dane gun which was already loaded to it’s brim.
The locally made gun suddenly went off and hit his daughter inlaw who was sitting on the opposite direction and got her on her breast region.
The shot which was at close range, hit his daughter inlaw with a bang on her chest region and sent her down on her canvas as she yelped and cried out.
The thunderous sound of the shot sent shivers to houses around and attracted attention of residents around following shriel shouts and cries of lamentations by persons in the house.
As people arrived the compound, they saw the victim sprawled on ground, wreathing in pains with blood streaming from her upper region even as the victim gasped for her last breath.
The gunshot had fatally wounded the victim even as her lifeless body sprawled on the ground prompting shriel cries from members of the family and other sympathisers.
The man was promptly arrested as words went round about the murder incident despite the accused person’s insistance that it was an accident.
The case which was reported to the Police, despite earlier interventions by elders of the community, has continued to elicit varied comments from villagers even as various angles and views have been thrown up about a seeming no love lost relationship between the man and his daughter inlaw.
The Magistrate Court 6 which is hearing the case against the man, has asked that the accused person be held in prison custody till the 7th of the month of March 2018 for further mention.
The Police First Information Report, FIR, read at the court first sitting had listed the offence as a culpable homicide case as the offence contravenes section 221 of the state’s penal code laws.
