What would make a man kill his wife two months after their celebrated wedding? This was the question asked by many when it was reported recently that an Abuja-based housewife, Mrs Stella Iloduba was found murdered and her husband, Uche, vanished into thin air, giving rise to suspicions that the self-professed prophet might have been involved in the assassination of his wife.

The long arm of the law caught up with Iloduba last week and, true to these suspicions, he confessed to killing his wife. But he said he did not do it out of hatred for Stella. Rather, he claimed he killed his wife so that he could live.

At the premises of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command, Abuja on Tuesday, Uche said he had no regrets killing his wife and that he would do it again if the opportunity represented itself. Looking the Commissioner of Police, Abuja Command, Mr. Haruna John, in the face, Uche, who claimed to have written more than 300 books on how to live a life devoid of sin, told his story. He said, “As a prophet, I preach in different churches. And since I married late Stella, I have been seeing blessings. I wrote over 300 books which will guide the world when I publish them.”

Uche then proceeded to explain why he killed his wife, accusing her of being the first to make an attempt on his life. He accused members of his family, who he described as cultists, of setting his wife against him. This, he said, was revealed to him in a dream.

He said, “The issue of killing my wife began from our families who are cultists. They set her against me. I saw her in my dream; she was struggling to kill me. I woke up and the environment was charged. ‘This is Satan,’ I said to myself, and I began to struggle with her in self defence. I went out and got a rope, overpowered her, tied her down and killed her with this hammer and cutlass,” he said, pointing to the two objects.

Seeing the doubts on the face of the Saturday Punch correspondent about his claim to pastoral calling, he said, “Look, I am a prophet of God. This incident happened because of my parents, especially my mother who is a cultist. My mother empowered my wife to kill me and on self defence, I killed her. I struggled and got a grip of the rope. Eventually, she began to change in to a creature because of the cursory power. I know what I am saying.”

Uche, an indigene of Anambra State, added, “I am a clergyman. I hosted many crusades. There was satanic power around us when the incident happened. This incident happened because of my occultic mother.’’

Asked why as a prophet he did not discover the evil powers in his wife before he married her, he said it was “very unfortunate that that did not happen. I am a man of God, who is spirit-filled. But it is not for me to say I want to know this or that at all cost except it is revealed to me.”

Uche had taken to his heels three days after he murdered his wife. He went to several places before he was apprehended by detectives in Kogi State. To conceal his identity, he decided to wear a bushy beard as against the clean shave he used to have before the incident.

Speaking on the incident, John said, the suspect was tracked with the support of the media that spread the information. He was arrested in Kogi State and he has confessed to killing his wife.

“He led detectives to their house where he showed them the hammer and the cutlass he used in killing his wife. He will be charged to court soon.” The death of Stella has however prompted a non-governmental organisation, the National Coalition on Violence Against Women, to call on the National Assembly to enact a bill against violence. The organisation, in a three-paragraph statement emailed to our correspondent, condemned the killing and called on the Federal Government to give priority to the “safety of women, particularly in their homes.”

The statement, which was signed by one Abigail Edo also said that since “Section 33 (1) of the constitution guarantees that every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his or her life, we urge the Federal Capital Territory police command to carry out a detailed investigation into the murder of Stella.”

A member of the family, Mr. Emmanuel Solomon, told our correspondent that the family had been told about Uche’s arrest. For this, he said, the family was grateful. But he added that what the family wanted was justice. This, he said, was the basis for their cry when it was discovered that the husband could be the brain behind the gruesome act. That is why we have not buried our sister. We wanted to know the outcome of the investigation. We want justice to prevail.”

It will be recalled that the body of Stella, who until her death was an employee of Nigeria Investment Promotion Council, was found at her home by one of her brothers, Mr. James Ubi.


http://odili.net/news/source/2008/feb/2/408.html

You be journalist?
Why the topic Jon long like this?
Juju go kill am Kare, Na the best option be that!

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