Posted by By BONIFACE NZAMA, Calabar on
A woman in Calabar, Mrs. Christiana Frank Edu has brought her seven-year old marriage to a tragic end, as she has become a guest to Cross River State Police Command for allegedly beating her husband to death.
A woman in Calabar, Mrs. Christiana Frank Edu has brought her seven-year old marriage to a tragic end, as she has become a guest to Cross River State Police Command for allegedly beating her husband to death.
Examination by medical experts at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, where Mr. Frank Enya Edu was confirmed dead, allegedly revealed that the PHD undergraduate of the Department of Pharmacology, University of Calabar died with several stripes of cane over his body, a broken skull and broken hand.
Mr. Edu was a lecturer of the Cross River State University of Technology (CRUTECH), who graduated from the University of Calabar with the best Masters Degree result in Pharmacology, while his wife, who allegedly attempted Senior Secondary School (SS 3) Examination but could not make a good result, was said to be a peasant farmer.
The ill-fated Frank was reportedly killed at their residence at No. 3 Essien Okon Street, Anantigha in Calabar South at about 9pm.
Information has it that Frank and his wife, both hail from Adadama Community in Abi Local Government Area in Cross River State, but became Calabar residents recently when the Pharmacologist picked a teaching appointment with the State University.
GENESIS OF THE TROUBLE
According to sources, including the immediate elder brother to the deceased, Mr. John Edu, trouble allegedly started months ago when the University don decided that it was necessary for the woman to re-enroll for Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination to remedy her GCE Ordinary Level deficiencies, in order to qualify for university admission, while Christiana wanted her marriage solemnized with complete bride price and a church wedding.
Narrating the incident to our reporter, John said 'the matter started some months ago, when my younger brother was offered an appointment with the Cross River State University of Technology, as a lecturer in the Department of Chemical Sciences.
'There have being trouble in the house over the need for her to go back to school, and our family members have made several attempts to settle the matter to no avail.
'The woman said she goes does not want to go to school, instead let the husband use the money to complete her wedding. My brother has on several occasions invited our family, pleading with her to go back to school, let the wedding be done after he has settled down on the job.
'Based on that, the husband decided that if she does not want to further her education, she should go back to the village and continue with farming, because he was complaining that she always was embarrassing him in the house with her behaviour, each time they had visitors."
John said, Christiana interpreted the decision to go back to the village as a plot by her husband to divorce her in order to get married to an educated woman.
'They have always being quarrelling and fighting over the matter, and actually there was scuffle in the house at that moment before my brother was killed. The truth is that the woman is a fighter ".
Fielding questions, John said neighbours said after the fight had lasted for some time, 'my brother left the house, and came back about an hour later, thinking it was over, only for the woman to launch another fight. I was not there when it happened, but somebody called me immediately it happened that my brother has been killed.
"From what I was told, as my brother returned to the house, the woman confronted him again, asking him that, so he has come back to the house to meet the illiterate woman". John said.
As another round of quarrel ensued, the woman allegedly locked the bedroom door, pick up a stick and struck, breaking his hand a fracture.
It was gathered that Frank attempted to open the door to escape from the room after sustaining a fracture on the hand, when the woman allegedly hit the rear side of his skull.
According to John, it was apparent that each of them had a cane, 'because my brother died with stripes all over his body and the woman is now in police cell with the same stripes of cane on her body".
THE WOMAN
While John and residents of the Essien Okon Street alleged that the woman killed the lecturer with a stick, Christiana who blamed the deadly fight on her husband's conduct, said, 'it is a lie, I did not use any stick on him".
'He started the fight. After beating me with the first cane and it broke into pieces, he took the second one, after that he took the third one, so I got angry and seized it, and started beating him. It was the cane that I used in beating him, so he fell and hit his head on the wall and fainted," She said.
Allegedly realizing that her husband was on the verge of death, Christian said she took him on a chartered motorcycle to the hospital where he was confirmed dead.