PETER Nwachukwu, the husband of the late gospel artiste, Osinachi Nwachukwu, could face the death penalty following a 23-count charge filed against him by the Nigerian government over the death of his wife.

The charges filed against him under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 include culpable homicide, which is punishable by death under Section 221 of the Penal Code.

Under the section, culpable homicide is punishable with death “if the act by which the death is caused is done with the intention of causing death; or if the doer of the act knew that death would be the probable and not only a likely consequence of the act, or of any bodily injury which the act was intended to cause.”

The case was filed at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on May 20, 2022, by the Head, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, Department of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Ministry of Justice, Yewande Gbola-Awopetun.

Nwachukwu has, since his arrest, been detained at the Lugbe Divisional Police Headquarters, Abuja, since April.

The arrest followed allegations that Nwachukwu was involved in the death of his wife.

He was accused of physically abusing his wife on many occasions and kicking her on the chest, leading to her death.

Osinachi died last month after spending days at a hospital in Abuja.

One of the counts against Nwachukwu stated that he wilfully placed his wife in constant fear of physical injury.

“Statement of offence: Wilfully placing a person in fear of physical injury contrary to section 4(1) of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015 and punishable under the same section of the Act,” the count read.

Ijeoma OPARA

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Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.