A 37-year-old man, Kelechukwu Chukwuanugo, accused of killing his girlfriend, on Tuesday told a Lagos High Court in Igbosere that he had no intension of killing the victim as he was in love with her.

Chukwuanugo  was weeping  as he opened his defence in a murder case preferred against him by Lagos State.

The defendant was first arraigned on Jan. 20, 2016 and was remanded in custody.

The prosecution counsel , Mr Yusuf Sule,   had called five witnesses and had closed his  case.

But at the resumed hearing on Tuesday, Chukwuanugo, who was led in evidence by his counsel, Mr C. J. Jiakponna, narrated to the court how he met the deceased, Lizzy Nzewi, in Ghana in 2012.

“I met Lizzy in Ghana where I was working with a company that was dealing  in fairly-used clothes.

“She bought some goods and we exchanged contacts;  that was how we became boyfriend and girlfriend,” Chukwuanugo said.

The defendant also told the court that he became close to the deceased and  the four children she had from her previous marriage.

He also said it was the deceased who helped him to obtain an international passport and a driver’s licence  bearing the same name with hers to make it look like they were married.

Chukwuanugo told the court that he had taken the deceased to his village once, adding that they often attended social events  together.

“On the day of incident, the deceased went out and stayed out till midnight and did not answer any of my phone calls.

“She came back playing  loud music in her car and was drunk. I took her and her belongings inside the house.

“I told her to take her bath  because she was smelling so bad;  as she went inside the bathroom, I called her phone to check if it was actually on silent but the phone rang out.

“She came out to answer the call but found out I was the one calling.

“After some time, the phone rang again, a man’s picture showed. I picked it and the man said ‘baby,  are you home ?

“She came out, dragged the phone, and  we started quarreling and struggling with the phone.

“She held my manhood so hard and  I tried to free myself and  then held her neck.

“The wine on the table which I was drinking poured on the floor, we slipped and fell down. I saw that I was bleeding,  so I entered the bathroom to clean up.

“When I came out, the deceased was still lying on the floor motionless. I shifted her and saw that she was already foaming from the mouth.

“I didn’t know what to do, I took the key to the car, an ATM card and ran away,” Chukwuanugo said.

The defendant said when he was arrested, he was taken to the hospital for treatment.

His lawyer consequently  made an application to the court to allow him subpoena (summon) the hospital to the court to give evidence.

He also asked the court to allow him apply to the police to produce  the defendant’s international passport, drivers’ licence and the ATM card seized from the defendant.

Justice Adedayo Akintoye adjourned the case till  May 10 for further hearing.

The prosecution counsel  had told the court that the defendant committed the  offence on July 19, 2014, at 2.00p.m  at plot 34, Green Estate, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos.

He said that the defendant killed the deceased by strangling her with a wrapper.

The offence, he said, contravened  Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos, 2011.