Earlier this week, reports emerged that a 23-year-old suspect, Solomon Peter, allegedly killed his 25-year-old girlfriend, Patience Zakaria in Gwallameji, a suburb of Bauchi metropolis.

He was first arrested on January 24 earlier this year. According to the accusation levied against him, he stabbed her with a knife during the course of an altercation.

However, while speaking to Daily Trust, he has claimed he did it in an act of self-defence because she attacked him first.

“We were having an issue which I was trying to resolve. This is over one man who called her a prostitute. I asked her what relationship she had with the man and the next thing was her breaking a bottle on my head. She hit me with a bottle and there were witnesses when the incident happened,” the suspect said.

He also told newsmen he didn’t intend to kill her,

“At the time of the incident I did not intend to kill her, rather, I acted in self-defence; out of anger. Our relationship is over one year and I had [the] intention to marry her. I feel very bad over the outcome of my action, it was not intentional. I regret my action,” he said.

According to Daily Trust, their neighbours spoke of how fond the duo was of each other.

The superintendent of Police of the region, SP Abubakar said that the suspect attempted to hide the crime; however, before he was able to flee the scene of the incident, he was arrested by the police.

“We do not know whether the deceased was still a student or has graduated from the purported school. She is living in a rented house alone at Gwallameji, an area predominantly occupied by students,” SP Abubakar said.

However, a representative of the Federal Polytechnic Bauchi said the deceased and the suspect were not students of the institution