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The police in Lagos has arraigned a man, Edmund Uzoma, before a Yaba Magistrates’ Court for alleged bigamy.

Uzoma was arraigned before a magistrate, Adeola Olatunbosun, on three counts bordering on bigamy and falsification of information on a marriage certificate.

The prosecutor, Idowu Osungbure, told the court that Uzoma, while lawfully wedded to a woman, contracted another marriage with one Sophia Yongxian, at a wedding registry.

He noted that the defendant also made a false declaration that he was a bachelor while already married.

Osungbure alleged that Uzoma committed the crime in 2019, adding that the offences were punishable under sections 411 and 115 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State and Section 370 of the Criminal Code Act Cap. C. 38 Laws of the Federation, 2004.

The charges read in part, “That you, Edmund Uzoma, of Lekki Road 15, Golden Gate Apartment, Lagos, on or sometime in 2019 in Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did conspire among yourselves to commit felony to wit; bigamy, and false statement and declaration.”

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Olatunbosun admitted him to bail in the sum of N1m with two responsible sureties in like sum.

She said one of the sureties must have landed property in Lagos.

Olatunbosun adjourned the case till March 15, 2023.

A man who had received the death penalty for the murder of a police officer was murdered in Texas on Wednesday night despite claims that racism tainted his conviction.

At 6:41 p.m. local time (1241 GMT), Wesley Ruiz, 43, was declared dead following a lethal injection at the Huntsville, Texas, prison, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

In 2007, Dallas, Texas, police officers pursued Ruiz through the city’s streets because they thought his car had been involved in a homicide.

Police officer Mark Nix was trying to smash the window of his car with his baton when the chase came to an end, and Ruiz fired a shot at him. Nix died from the gunshot.

According to local media, Ruiz claimed throughout his trial that he fired in self-defense out of fear for his life. But the jury gave him the death penalty.

According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Ruiz’s last words were: “I would like to apologize to Mark and the Nix family. I hope this brings you closer.

“I want to say to all my family and friends around the world thank you for supporting me. To my kids, stand tall and continue to make me proud, don’t worry about me, I’m going to be OK. Alright Warden, I’m ready to ride.”

After Ruiz’s conviction, his attorneys attempted many unsuccessful appeals.

As the execution date drew near, defense attorneys contended in an urgent request that jurors’ assessments of Ruiz’s threat were based on “overtly racist” evidence and “blatantly anti-Hispanic stereotypes.”

They said in court documents that one jury had called him “an animal,” “a mad dog,” and thought the Hispanics at the trial were “gang members.”

Their case was dismissed out at trial and on appeal, and the US Supreme Court was asked to provide a last-ditch reprieve.

In a separate complaint, numerous Texas death row convicts claimed that the state’s Department of Criminal Justice had extended the expiration dates of the fatal drugs used in executions. Ruiz had joined that action as well.

Since the US Constitution forbids cruel and unusual punishment, they claim that employing outmoded medications runs the potential of causing unjustified pain.

The officials stated that there is no issue with their pentobarbital stocks.

Ruiz is the fourth prisoner to be executed in the United States this year after the Supreme Court declined to block the execution.