The first prosecution witness in the ongoing trial in the alleged murder of Bilyamin Bello has narrated before a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Jabi incidents preceding the alleged murder.
Ibrahim Mohammed, a businessman and friend of the deceased told the court that the wife of the deceased, Maryam Sanda, who the police charged with the murder, attempted to stab the deceased multiple times on the night of November 18, 2017.
While being led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, James Idachaba, the witness told the court that Maryam threatened on numerous occasions to cut off the manhood of the deceased unless she was divorced that night.
He said he was with the deceased from around 3:00 p.m. on November 18 to around 1:00 a.m. on November 19.
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He told the court that Maryam Sanda came down the second time to call her husband and while they were upstairs he heard noises from upstairs before Maryam sent Sadiya (the fourth defendant) to call him.
“When I got there, Ibrahim said ‘I saw both Maryam and Bilyaminu holding each other’s cloth on the neck. I asked what was happening and pleaded that they stop this.
“Maryam told me to tell Bilyaminu to divorce her. I told her they should exercise patience and stop fighting. She said she was not going anywhere until he divorces her.
“While pleading with her, Bilyamin entered the bedroom and Maryam followed him, insisting that he should divorce her that night but Bilyamin kept silent,” he explained.
The witness said he had to use his hand to disengage Maryam’s hands from her husband’s neck, adding that when he did this, the first defendant picked a groundnut bottle by the side of the door and broke it on the wall while charging towards her husband, who however overpowered her and sustained an injury.
According to Ibrahim, Maryam said she would not stop until Bilyaminu divorce her that night; that either he divorces her or she would cut his private part but the deceased kept silent all through the altercation.
He also recounted how he and the deceased returned home after to treat a cut he sustained and subsequently smoked shish before he departed.
But at about 1:00 am he was called that Maryam’s husband had died.
Under cross-examination by counsel for the defendants: Joseph Daudu, the witness told the court that he left the deceased performing ablution when he was leaving his house that night.
Asked if Maryam threatened to kill the deceased all through the fights, the witness said she did not state so, adding, however, that, “Maryam said she would cut his private part.”
The trial judge, Justice Yusuf Halilu, upon the conclusion of the evidence of the witness and based on the consensus of parties adjourned the case to May 15 and 16 for a continuation of hearing.