/ 13 February 2001

NIGERIAN TO HANG FOR KILLING WIFE

NIGERIAS highest court has approved a death sentence against a man for killing his pregnant wife on suspicion her unborn child was the result of an affair. The Supreme Court of Nigeria confirmed the death sentence passed by a high court in Ijebu Ode in Ogun State that Pius Nweke be hanged for killing his wife, Josephine, then eight months pregnant, in 1992. The Nigerian criminal code allows for death sentences for murder, though executions have been rare since 43 convicted armed robbers were shot in a mass execution in 1997. – AFP