A 38-year-old marine engineer, Nkem Iheanacho, has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by an Ikeja High Court for killing his 32-year-old wife, Regina.
Justice Raliatu Adebiyi, while passing the sentence on Thursday, said that the sentence should serve as a deterrent to men who engage in various acts of domestic violence against their spouses.
“I have taken into account the prevalence of domestic violence in the country and this is to send a message to men who still engage in such a callous act to desist.
“I also took note of the average Nigerian male expectancy age in Nigeria to be 54-years according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) .
“The defendant was 34-years-old when he committed the crime, he is now 38 years.
“I hereby sentence Nkem Iheanacho to 15 years’ imprisonment with effect from March 13, the date of the judgment,” Adebiyi said.
Immediately after the sentence, Iheanacho, a relative of a one-time minister in the country, who wore a resigned expression on his face, was subsequently led out of the courtroom by prison officials.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Iheanacho had on March 13, been found guilty of a count of manslaughter contrary to Section 222 and punishable under Section 227 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
Iheanacho’s counsel, Mr Akaene Spurgeon, immediately his client was found guilty, had pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy.
“I urge the court to temper justice with mercy; the defendant has shown serious remorse for his actions.
“He is a young man and a marine engineer with three young children to cater for,” Spurgeon said.
During the trial, the prosecution for the state led by Mrs O.A. Olugasa had told the court that Nkem battered his wife, Regina Iheanacho. at 12 a.m. on May 12, 2013.
She said that the incident happened at their No. 3, Calvary St., Iyana-Isasi, along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Lagos State residence.
“On that fateful day, he accused Regina of infidelity and he beat her to a state of unconsciousness.
“He did not immediately take her to hospital after she lost consciousness and this led to her death in her matrimonial home,” the prosecutor said.
Noting this fact, Justice Adebiyi while reading Iheanacho’s sentence on Thursday said, “The defendant is an educated man who had full knowledge of the result of his actions.
“His responsibility to his wife was to take care of her but he did not take her immediately to the hospital when she became unconscious.
“There was proof before the court that he regularly turned his wife into a punching bag making his degree of culpability high.
“He deprived his children of a mother and deprived her family and friends of a daughter, sister and friend,” Adebiyi said.
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