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A High Court sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state has sentenced a 39-year-old man, Chituru Mbam, to six months’ imprisonment without an option of fine for forcefully evicting his wife from their matrimonial home and destroying the building.
The court, presided over by Justice Ruth Okeh, also ordered Mbam to pay his wife, Mbam Ozoemena, N500,000 in damages and provide her with decent accommodation.
The couple, who got married in 2009 and have five children, had reportedly been experiencing marital difficulties for several years before the incident that culminated in the woman’s eviction and the destruction of the property.
The incident occurred in the early hours of January 6, 2026, when Mbam allegedly stormed the house with two other men and forcefully drove his wife out after moving into a newly completed building.
He subsequently had the woman arrested by the police and detained at the Police Headquarters in Abakaliki.
While she was in detention, Mbam allegedly dismantled the house, removing its roof, doors, windows and other valuables, leaving his wife without shelter.
The development attracted the intervention of the Rose Foundation for the Protection of Women and Children, a rights organisation in Ebonyi State, which petitioned the state Commissioner of Police over the alleged abuse.
The foundation’s Executive Secretary, Professor Mike Ajanwachukwu, pursued the matter, which led to Mbam’s arrest and subsequent prosecution.
Delivering judgment on Monday, Justice Okeh found Mbam guilty of the offence and sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment without an option of fine.
In addition to the custodial sentence, the court directed him to pay N500,000 in damages to his wife and secure decent accommodation for her.
Reacting to the judgment, counsel to the woman, Mrs Ijeoma Mike-Ajanwachukwu, commended the court, describing the decision as a clear warning against the forceful eviction of spouses from their matrimonial homes.
She said marriage did not confer on either spouse the right to subject the other to violence or render them homeless through force.
According to her, the defendant’s actions contravened the Ebonyi State Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law, 2018, which provides protection against violence, including acts committed within the family.
“The man evicted his wife from her matrimonial home and went ahead to destroy the house. Meanwhile, he had moved into a new building somewhere with another woman.
“He rendered this woman homeless by using even the police and thugs to get her out of the house,” she said.
Mike-Ajanwachukwu maintained that the judgment underscored the need to protect women and children from domestic abuse and ensure that perpetrators were held accountable under the law.
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