Zambia-based Nigerian, girlfriend arraigned for manslaughter

A 34-year-old Nigerian, Nathaniel Barthram, and four others, including his girlfriend, Maria Zaloumis, have been charged in Zambia over the death of a 22-year-old man, Enoch Kasengele.

According to a report by the Lusaka Times on Tuesday, the case has been transferred to the High Court for trial after a Kabwe Magistrate’s Court reduced the charge from murder to manslaughter and granted the suspects bail.

Other suspects named in the report, seen by PUNCH Metro on Wednesday, include Zaloumis, Daniel Chiluwa, Fortune Mwitangati, and Gift Daka.

They were all accused of committing the offence at Onani Farm in Kabwe on August 17.

While Kasengele was said to be a resident along the Kabwe-Lusaka Road before he was allegedly killed, Barthram, a Nigerian national living at Tuzini Farm, and Zaloumis, a farmer residing at Wonani Farm, were said to have been in a relationship.

In an earlier report published on September 23 by The Mast, another Zambian news outlet, the suspects made their first appearance before the Kabwe Magistrates’ Court in connection with the death of Kasengele.

The Zambian Police Service had reportedly charged the five suspects with murder on August 28 following the victim’s death.

You are all charged with one count of murder of 22-year-old Enock Simfukwe Kasengele on August 17, 2025, contrary to Section 200 Chapter 87 of the laws of Zambia.2

You are expected to appear again for another mention on October 6, 2025, as we await consent from the office of the DPP,” Magistrate Wamundila Liswaniso had read the charge.

The suspects were subsequently remanded at the Mukobeko Maximum Correctional Facility pending further hearing.

When the case came up again on Monday, the Lusaka Times reported that State Advocate Joseph Zimba informed the court that the Director of Public Prosecutions had decided to reduce the charge from murder to manslaughter.

Following the development, the report added that the defence lawyers applied for bail, arguing that manslaughter “is a bailable offence” and that the accused were ready to meet all bail conditions.

The court agreed, with the state only requesting that Barthram surrender his Nigerian passport.

According to the report, Magistrate Liswaniso then granted bail of K20,000 each, with “two traceable civil servant sureties per accused.”

This latest case adds to a growing list of negative reports involving Nigerians abroad.

In February,, citing The Tribune of India, reported that a Nigerian, Adiyako Masaliyo, was beaten to death in Bellahalli, Bhagaluru, India, following an altercation with a man identified as Yasin Khan over an alleged drug-related dispute.