Sentenced for Killing Wife, Niba Michael Awaits Justice as Retrial Begins

After having been tried, convicted, and jailed for murdering his wife, Niba Michael, 45, former boss of the Energy of Cameroon (ENEO) for the Mbengwi branch, maintained his “not guilty” plea. In prison for more than four years, he hopes to be acquitted, as the Appeal Court has ordered a retrial of the case. 

What Happened Matter?

In the heart of the ongoing armed conflict in Anglophone Cameroon, Niba Michael, Eneo’s worker in Mbengwi, Momo Division of Cameroon’s Northwest Region, on Sunday, July 5, 2020, left his wife, Fombo Irene Indah, who was Chief of Finance at Mbengwi council. Niba left home to fix his car at a garage. After servicing the car, he returned home and found his wife stabbed to death. He was the first person to see her alive and dead. That has landed him behind bars to date. 

Who killed Niba’s wife?

On April 9, 2021, during a committal proceeding in the chambers of the examining magistrate holden at Mbengwi, His Lordship, Justice Ndingsa Linda, upon examining the evidence, sent the case for trial at the High Court of the Momo Division.

When the accused was arraigned in court in the case between the People of Cameroon vs. Niba Michael, he was charged with capital murder, though it was later modified to murder after claims of premeditation could not be established. Before Her Lordship, Justice Ngulle Anita, the accused, Niba Michael, pleaded not guilty. That was in 2022. 

Facts of Niba’s Case

 MMI has examined the court judgements both at the Momo High Court and the Northwest Court of Appeal.

On July 5, 2020, Niba came home and met her death. The wife, Fombo Irene Indah, was lying face down, naked, and being stabbed several times. Niba said he immediately clothed her nakedness and called a family friend, Asah Gadine Njoh, to come to his house. Asah Gadine Njoh, who was brought in as a prosecuting witness (PW1), testified under oath that when he got to the accused’s house, the accused said the wife took her life. So, Njoh advised the accused to call the gendarmerie, which was just 30 meters away and shared a boundary with the accused.

They live in the government residential area in Mbengwi. When the gendarmes came to the scene, they examined whether there were signs of a break-in. The accused told the investigating magistrate that there was no way someone could enter his fenced house without the gendarmes seeing. According to the accused, the murderer climbed the fence and entered his house, killed his wife, and made away with her phone, his laptop, and some money.

Preliminary Findings

The preliminary investigation indicated that there were no signs of a break. Secondly, the gate is well secured, and someone can only open it from inside. The second PW of the four that testified, Tembeng Phebe, who is aunt to the deceased, claimed Niba and his late wife were having frictions. This story was corroborated by PW1 Gadin Njoh, who said the wife used to come and spend the night at his place sometimes. However, PW2 added that the marriage was plagued by issues and that her daughter and the accused were sleeping in separate rooms. She added that Niba’s late wife was claiming a settlement of 20 million FCFA to exit the marriage.

Judgement Pronounced based on Circumstantial Evidence

The court acknowledged that nobody saw Niba Michael committing the act. The judge’s logic, therefore, was that Niba was the last person to see his wife alive and the first person to see death. Niba said he left for the garage and came back around 4 pm. His alibi, according to the prosecutor, did not check out. The mechanic, according to the PI, gave a different time frame as to when Niba was in his garage.

This contradicted what Niba had told the PI. Again, there were no signs of a break-in, and the gate could only be opened from inside. Niba saw his wife and did not immediately sound an alarm but remained composed, wore her dress, and instead of calling his neighbours the gendarmes, he called a family friend a distance away. The prosecutor stated that Niba approached the wife, finding her face down and naked. He clothed her with tracksuit trousers.

When the gendarmes came, the wife was lying face up and her breasts bare. The prosecutor questioned the motive for covering the nakedness of a dead person lying in a pool of blood. The prosecutor argues that Niba changed the wife’s position by doing so, thereby tampering with evidence.

Questions by the Trial Judge

After having listened to all, Justice Ngulle Anita questioned.

Why would the accused meet his wife lying dead with several stab wounds on her body and yet succeed in staying calm without screaming or shouting for help or calling on the gendarmes, whose office was barely 30 meters from his residence?

2. What was the accused’s interest in moving the deceased from one position to another even before calling anyone to the scene?

3. If the accused was not at home at the time the murder occurred, how then did the deceased’s dead body find itself in the accused’s room when she had no access to the room and the said door was not broken?

4. What exactly pushed the accused to want to put clothes on the deceased he only met murdered before anyone came to the scene?

5. What was the reason behind the accused’s belief that the deceased had taken her life? “The facts before the court are incompatible with the accused’s innocence and only point to his guilt. It can easily be inferred from the circumstances, especially the behaviour of the accused after the deceased’s death, that the accused and no one else was the culprit.” Justice Anita said.

“This judgement is delivered in open court, after a full hearing, by this court sitting in felonious matters at first instance. The accused is found guilty as charged for murder, contrary to and punishable under Section 275 of the Penal Code. He is accordingly convicted,” she added. Niba was sentenced to 15 years because he is a first-time offender. 

Niba Denies accusations about him killing his wife

During cross-examination, Niba said he did not call the gendarmes because he suspected them of raping and stabbing his wife. Niba equally added that the witnesses lied about him having marital issues with his late wife. The accused claimed someone breached the fence of his house.

He also claimed that the killers of his wife were using his wife’s phone. MMI has seen data obtained from MTN by his lawyer, Barrister Suh Fuh Ben. It carries the names of individuals who communicate with the number of the deceased. The accused’s defence was not solid, according to the judge, who ruled in disfavour and did not hold. 

Northwest Court of Appeal Nullifies Judgement

In 2023, his lawyer appealed the case, and the Northwest Court of Appeal ruled in his favour, rejecting the judgement of Momo High Court. The Court of Appeal found that the trial judge of the Momo High Court made a legal error by not bringing the accused/appellant before her for the final judicial interrogation before the hearing began, violating the mandatory provision of Section 415 of the criminal penal code.

The judge erred by arraigning, trying, convicting, and sentencing the accused without serving or notifying him of a committal order or an instrument of accusation during his pretrial and trial proceedings. This action violated the mandatory provision of Section 410 as read with Section 415 (2) of the criminal procedure code.

“We are bound by the doctrine of stare decisis, or binding precedent, to so proceed as directed by the Supreme Court in Kingue Eric’s case. Wherefore we make the following consequential orders: the decision of the High Court of Momo, alongside the trial or pretrial proceeding, is hereby nullified; the case file and the parties are hereby remitted to the High Court of Momo for a reconduct of the pretrial and trial proceeding de novo by another judge of the same court,” the judgement read. It was signed by Court Vice’s Presidents, Sokem Ngale Mborh, Nchu Julius Cheo, and Njukeng George Ajapmua, with Buma Musa Semah as registrar in attendance. 

Niba Hopes for Justice

The fresh trial commenced on November 7, 2024. However, much has not been said. Niba was only brought to court for identification. The court of Momo since the start of the Anglophone crisis meets three times in one year.

As Niba continues to languish in detention, he hopes that justice will be served and he will be acquitted. “My case shows that somebody is being protected. And the circumstances surrounding the death of my wife, madam Fombo Irene Indah, show she was forced and raped,” he said.

While in detention, Niba told MMI that his health had deteriorated and that he had been sick for two years and had to be operated on, but that has not happened. He has questioned why the authorities have not arrested the person using his wife’s number or those communicating with the number. Niba lost his liberty as well as his family.

“In all of these, my daughter was trafficked into the USA by my sister-in-law. While locals are saying that the minister of supreme state audit is behind my detention since she is from Mbengwi, and the deceased too is from there,” he added.

However, throughout the first trial, the murder weapon, which the court described as a sharp, heavy object, was never tendered in evidence. No DNA was obtained from the deceased body or murder weapon following the autopsy.

Niba has written to several persons, including the UN High Commissioner on Refugees in Yaoundé. He believes that one day the truth will come out and he will be freed.