FORMER Benue State governor Gabriel Suswam has been arrested by the Metropolitan Police in Britain and charged with battery after he beat up his wife Yemisi in their luxury London home.

Governor Suswam, who ruled Benue State between 2007 and May 29 this year sought refuge in the UK after his tenure ended amid fears that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were after him. Like most of Nigeria's former governors, he has a permanent London home in the UK that he regularly visited when in office and has now retired to with his wife.

Last week, however, the Metropolitan Police Domestic Violence Office booked Governor. Suswam into its London detention centre for several hours and a judge set a £5,000 bail bound for him before he was released. Police arrested the embattled Governor Suswam in his luxury London home after they received a distressed 999 call from his wife Yemisi the former first lady of Benue State.

Mrs Suswan told a dispatcher over the phone that she feared for her life after being physically assaulted by her husband over a heated argument relating to Suswam's mistress Shidoo. One family source told the police that Governor Suswam hit Yemisi severally and inflicted injuries on her.

 Apparently Mrs Suswam was unhappy with Shidoo's increasing influence on her husband and matters eventually came to a head. Battery is an offence in the UK under the Persons Act of 1861 and Governor Suswam faces a prison term not exceeding six months if found guilty. 

One close family source revealed that the British Police are prevailing on Mrs Suswam to press charges against her husband who is in the habit of abusing her regularly. Apparently Yemisi, has been assaulted repeatedly by the governor even before Shidoo came into his life but now the mistress is gaining in influence, the attacks have increased. 

Shidoo has a child for Governor Suswam and that irked the former first lady, who is losing grip of her husband to a mistress who has vowed to marry him. It is believed that Governor Suswam has repeatedly declared to Yemisi  that he would officially marry Shidoo, as a wife. 

A native of Benue State, Shidoo who works for the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control  was the go-between for Tiv people trying to reach the governor while he was in power. One family source said:  "She was always helpful to the Benue people and that was what endeared her to our people. 

"She was always ready to help. If any Benue person needed something from the former governor, Shidoo was always ready to help." 

If Mrs Suswam decides to press criminal charges against her husband, the former governor risk going to jail under the UK Criminal Justice Act of 1988. It is not yet clear if the Metropolitan Police has fitted with former governor with an electronic device to prevent him from jumping bail.