A Lagos State Magistrate Court has remanded, Mr. Ikechukwu Ogbonna, husband of late Mrs Bimbo Ogbonna in prison on a charge of alleged manslaughter.
Bimbo died following severe burns inflicted on her in a fire incident at their home while her husband, rather than call for rescue, was seen recording the burning house from outside the premises.
Miffed by the fact that the husband was not arrested, a non-governmental organisation, Men Against Rape Foundation (MARF) raised an alarm on November 24, 2022.
At the said press conference in Abuja, the Executive Director of MARF, Mr. Lemmy Ughegbe, urged the Lagos State to arrest and charge Mr. Ogbonna.
Ughegbe chided the police and Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Agency for not acting on time and appropriately to several formal complaints by Bimbo against her husband over alleged serial abuses despite evidence.
He also faulted the charge of negligence leveled against Ogbonna and called for a more serious charge that matches the severity of his act.
Bimbo’s family through their counsel, Barr. Odiana Eriata, wrote the Lagos State command demanding a review of the charge of negligence as it fell short of expectation of law.
In what appears to be a response, the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution, reviewed the charge upward by slamming on Mr. Ogbonna the charge of manslaughter punishable under Section 229 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.
When the matter came up Tuesday before Magistrate Court 7 presided over by Mrs. Adebayo Kafayat Tella in the Yaba magisterial district, Ebute-Metta, she ordered that he be remanded in prison until March 7.
She refused the bail request by Mr. Ogbonna’s lawyer, Abubakar Yusuf.
Ogbonna is facing a fresh charge of involuntary manslaughter contrary to section 224(b)/and punishable under section 229 of Criminal Law of Lagos state.
