A bizarre incident occurred yesterday at Araromi Street in
the densely populated Oshodi area of Lagos, following the killing of a mother
of five by her husband.
The suspect, Sogei Jafairu, who hails from Etsako
Central Local Government Area of Edo
state, was suspected to have committed the act for ritual purpose.
Late Rose
and husband He was said to have returned home Thursday evening, after spending
one week outside.
His unsuspecting wife, Roselyn , who was a trader at Ijora
market, prepared food for members of the family .
But the food was alleged to
have been poisoned by her husband, who also ate with her.
At about 1am, Jafaru
was said to have been seen pacing around his one room and parlour apartment.
He
was said to have also been sighted licking some black substance suspected to be
concoction to neutralise the poisoned food he ate with his wife.
Thereafter, he
allegedly slit his wife’s throat with a knife, while she was sleeping.
according to Vanguard report he attempted to stuff the lifeless body inside a
container when he suddenly started vomiting.
One of their children, Richmond
Sogei (16) narrated the incident when Vanguard visited.
He said “My daddy and
mummy never ate together since I grew up knowing them as my parents.
We only
saw them eating together for the very first time yesterday (Thursday) .
Mummy
came back from the market with some drinks she said we would use to celebrate
Children’s Day today (yesterday) “We were surprised when we saw them eating
beans and garri from same plate but concluded that it could be as a result of
my kid sister’s birthday that was celebrated same day.
We all went to bed
without any thought of the unexpected.
But at 3am my daddy woke me up and
instructed me to go and meet my mum in the bedroom.
I left the sitting room
where I slept with my aunt and three siblings.
As I was going to urinate, I saw
daddy vomiting in the bathroom.
I went outside to urinate and when I came back,
I saw him lying down in the bathroom.
When I flashed the torchlight, I noticed
that he was vomiting some black substance.
He also excreted on himself.
Out of
fear, I rushed to wake my aunt up to assist daddy.
I also told her to wake
mummy up to come and help daddy but she said that mummy was not responding.
When I went inside and flashed my torchlight at her, I saw that the bed she
laid on was socked with blood.
On closer observation, I discovered a deep cut
on her throat and passed out. “
Daddy initially said somebody broke into the
room and killed mummy but we discovered that the gate was locked.
Later he said
I was the one that killed my mummy.
How can I kill a mother that has been
playing the role of a father to us?.
She was even sponsoring my elder brother,
Collins who just gained admission into the University.
She was the bread
winner.
Twice, we have been sent packing by our landlords at Michael and
Banjoko streets because daddy could not pay the rent.
Why would anyone think of
killing such person? “, he asked, crying.
Vanguard also gathered that the
suspect had been beating the deceased before the incident occurred.
On one of
the occasions, she had threatened to quit the marriage.
A relative of the
deceased, Feronica Imomoh, revealed that the suspect accused his wife of
infidelity. She said:
“Our family had warned him to stop beating my sister .
He
does not have any job, she was the one feeding him and paying the rent.
Anytime she collected gifts from her
relatives, he would quarrel with her, accusing her of sleeping with men.
There
was a time he took him to our village in Edo State to swear before a shrine
that she was not cheating on him.
Just yesterday (Thursday) he demanded N10,
000 from her.
She promised to raise the money by borrowing from her friends”.
Jafaru who attempted to escape was apprehended by sympathisers until the
arrival of policemen from Akinpelu who whisked him away and removed the corpse.
Meanwhile, all apartments and shops at the two storey building located were
under lock and key, as their occupants have fled, for fear of being arrested by
the police.
When contacted, Deputy Spokesperson for the Lagos State Police
Command, Mr. Chukwuma Ozoani, a Deputy Superintendent of Police said that the
suspect had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and
Intelligence Department for further investigation.
He said:”It was a murder
case and the husband was suspected to be under the influence of drug.
The case
has been transferred to the SCID and investigation has commenced.”
