Man in court for kidnapping and raping wife

A 38-year-old applicant, Augustine Tochukwu, was arraigned before an FCT High Court on Thursday for allegedly kidnapping and raping a house-wife. Tochukwu, a native of Umudioka Awka, Anambra State, was slammed with a four-count charge of conspiracy, armed robbery, kidnap and rape. The prosecutor, Corporal John Ijagbemi, told the court that the accused kidnapped his victim on January 18, 2013 and called her husband, Mr Nzota Chidi, demanding for the sum of N40m as ransom or risk losing his wife. Ijagbemi also told the court that while Mrs Chidi was in Tochukwu’s custody, he raped her. After the charges were read to him, the accused pleaded not guilty. In a ruling, the presiding judge, Justice Husseini Baba-Yusuf, admitted the accused on bail in the sum of N500,000 with two reliable sureties in like sum. Baba-Yusuf ordered the sureties to produce title deeds of landed property within the FCT. The judge also ordered that if the accused failed to meet the bail conditions, he would be remanded at the Kuje Medium Security Prison. Baba-Yusuf adjourned the case until October 13, 2014 for trial. Source: Leadership