A 34-year-old dismissed solider, Sunday Umaru, has been sentenced to death by hanging by a Plateau State High Court sitting in Barkin Ladi on Wednesday for hacking his lover to death over a text message, he found on her phone.

Justice S.P. Gang handed down the sentence after finding Umaru guilty of killing his girlfriend, Charity Thomas, on January 23, 2016.

Delivering the judgment, Gang declared that Umaru “mercilessly took the life of Charity Thomas in cold blood” and had to face the full wrath of the law.

“This sentence is mandatory; the law states that any person convicted of murder shall be punished with death by hanging.

“The sentence of this court upon you is that you, Sunday Umaru, will be hanged by the neck until you are dead. May God have mercy on your soul,’’ Gang declared.

It was gathered that Umaru, an ex-military and married man was dragged before the court on July 14, 2016, for allegedly killing his lover.

He was a Private in the Nigerian Army and was serving at the Special Task Force (STF), Sector 7, Barkin Ladi, at the time of the incident, on January 23, 2016.

At his arraignment, Umaru faced a charge of culpable homicide.

He was specifically accused of killing his lover, Charity, who visited him from Kaduna State, by stabbing her with a knife in the stomach, slaughtering her thereafter and dumping the body by the roadside.