I did not kill my wife, retired civil servant tells court

Court

A retired civil servant, David Aiyedogbon, on Wednesday told an FCT High Court, Apo that he did not murder his estranged wife, Charity.

Aiyedogbon, approached the Court, seeking N10 billion as damages in a defamation suit instituted against controversial Lagos lawyer, Emeka Ugwuonye, who accused him of murdering his wife.

Testifying before Justice Peter Kekemeke of the FCT High Court, Aiyedogbon said he was away in Istanbul, Turkey when his daughter, Juliet, called him over the phone to inform him of his estranged wife’s disappearance in May 2016.

He said that upon returning to Nigeria, he made great efforts to find his former wife.

“I asked my daughter to report the matter at the Gwarinpa Police Station‎ and she also wrote a petition to the commissioner of police which he followed up immediately he returned to Nigeria,” he said.

‎Aiyedogbon’s counsel, Tony Ogbulafor, had tendered a DVD containing a video of  Ugwuonye, founder of Due Process Advocate group on Facebook, telling the public that he killed his wife.

When asked if he had any conflict over a property with his missing wife, he and his estranged wife were shareholders in Charvid Nigerian Limited, he said “I did not have a personal conflict with my estranged wife but she only sought for the dissolution of the said company.

“We were married for 26 years and separated on May 29, 2014, while she was declared missing in May 2016.

“Mr Ugwuonye could not produce any evidence that I murdered my former wife. I filed this suit against the defendant for him to present to the court his overwhelming evidence of  why he  called me a murderer.”

After listening to the testimony, Justice Kekemeke adjourned the matter until June 28 for continuation of cross-examination and hearing.