Ben Kalu who killed His Lover a Female AirForce Officer Faces Court-Martial

An aircraftman of the Nigerian Air Force, Ben Kalu, who has been in custody for alleged murder of his girlfriend, Solape Oladipupo, at the NAF base in Makurdi, Benue State, will face a court-martial this week Friday.

Kalu, who had been in custody for over 2 months at the NAF Tactical Command, Makurdi, would begin the process of court-martial on Friday, after which he would be handed over to the appropriate security agency for prosecution.

Kalu had on Sunday, March 12, shot dead Oladipupo, popularly called Shomzy, in her apartment at the base, on the grounds that she was unfaithful in their romantic affair.

The aircraft man, who met her at a parade ground some months before the incident, had afterwards left a suicide note, threatening to kill himself, before he was arrested by the NAF.

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

The air force authorities took Kalu for psychiatric tests in the course of their investigation.

A top NAF source, who disclosed the court-martial to Punch on Tuesday, said the long delay in Kalu’s prosecution was because he was attached to the Logistics Command, Ikeja, Lagos State, but served in Makurdi.

He said, “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.”

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