The Akwa Ibom High Court on Friday sentenced one Nkereuwem Emah to death by hanging for killing his pregnant wife.

Hemah, 52, from Mbiabam in the Ibiono Ibom local government area of the state, was said to have butchered his wife of 12 years to death on February 12, 2018, while asleep at their residence over an allegation of infidelity.

In a one-hour judgment, the trial judge, Justice Nkanang, described the act as a “callous, inexplicable, and inexcusable debasement of the marriage institution.”

He said, “The nature of the weapon resorted to by the accused person in ventilating his rage at the victim is a clear pointer that, indeed, the accused person clearly intended to kill the deceased.”

The judgment came after four years of litigation during which the prosecution called three witnesses, one of them, the 10-year-old son of the deceased, Christian Sylvanus Etim, who narrated how their father killed their mother.

According to the witness, his father was a mechanic with the State Water Board, and on the said date, he used a big matchet to cut his mother’s neck while she was asleep in their house.

The trial judge held that the accused was guilty of the offence and thereby sentenced him to death in compliance with Section 339(2) of the Criminal Procedure Law, Cap 39, Laws of Akwa Ibom State.

Earlier, in his plea for mercy, the accused person had asked the court to temper justice with mercy and give him another chance to go home and take care of his five children.