Aircraftsman who murdered girlfriend in cold blood to be court-martialled on Friday

Ben Kalu(L) , The deceased Solape Oladipupo(R)

The Nigerian Air Force has on Tuesday said that it will on Friday be court-martialing Ben Kalu, an aircraftsman who allegedly murdered Solape Oladipupo-his girlfriend and also a fellow officer at the NAF base in Makurdi, Benue State.Kalu who had been in confinement at the NAF tactical command in Markudi will start the court Marshal on Friday and thereafter be handed over to the appropriate security agency for prosecution.

He had met Oladipupo aka shomzy on a parade ground where they hit it off and started dating some months prior to the incident and killed her on allegations of unfaithfulness on her part in their relationship.

Oladipupo was rushed to the NAF Hospital at the base and later transferred to the state hospital, where she passed on.

Kalu had left a suicide note threatening after the incident to kill himself before he was arrested at the NAF base.

NAF authorities during their investigations had taken Kalu for psychiatric evaluation.

A top NAF source, who brought to light the court-martial on Tuesday, said the long delay in Kalu’s prosecution was due to the fact that Kanu was attached to the Logistics Command, Ikeja, Lagos State, but served in Makurdi.

“The suspect is still in NAF custody. Everything has been going step-by-step. He will be court-martialled on Friday and by next week, he will be handed over to the appropriate authorities for prosecution. He is only serving physically in Makurdi, but his command is in Lagos State. So, the correspondence has taken some time too,” said the source.

Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya The NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, confirmed the court-martial, saying that it would “take place shortly.

“We have a procedure in the military and we don’t jump the process. There is a disciplinary committee which goes through investigations, boards of enquiry, summary of evidence and so on.

“The last stage is the convening of the court-martial. From all indications, we are at that stage now and it will take place between this week and next week. It will take place shortly. The NAF can never sweep the matter under the carpet, because the crime was an embarrassment to the service.”