An
official of the Western Naval Command, Apapa, Lagos, Omojoye Ayodele, has been
arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly killing his wife, Mary
Egbailo.
It was gathered that
Ayodele on Tuesday allegedly beat up the victim till she gave up the ghost at
their house on Eze Anthony Street, in the Igando, Alimosho area of the state.
It
was gathered that the 30-year-old suspect had gone to bring back the wife from
the Cherubim and Seraphim Church in the area, where she was said to have been
since Sunday.
Shortly
after they entered their room-and-parlour apartment, an argument reportedly
ensued between them, which led to a fight.
The
Ebute Irele, Ondo State indigene, allegedly beat his 29-year-old wife till she
became weak and died.
She
was said to have been rushed to El Dunamis Hospital, a private medical centre
in the area, where she was confirmed dead.
An
official of the hospital said on Wednesday that Egbailo was confirmed dead
while in a tricycle that brought her in company with her husband and two women.
The
official, who did not want to be identified, said the husband claimed she took
a local insecticide, Sniper.
He
said, “She was brought around 11.30am in a tricycle. A man, who wore military
uniform and claimed to be her husband, was screaming that she took Sniper
insecticide.
“Doctors
went to check her in the tricycle and it was discovered that she was dead. We
immediately asked that she should be transferred to a general hospital. The
husband was shouting to the hearing of everybody that she took Sniper.”
It was gathered that the
victim would have been taken to her hometown for burial, but for the insistence
of the landlady, who maintained that Egbailo did not take Sniper, but was a
victim of domestic violence.
The
case was said to have been reported at the Igando Police Division, leading to
the arrest of Ayodele for allegedly beating the victim to death.
The
landlady, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, alleged that Ayodele had
been assaulting his wife since 2016.
She
explained that on the morning of her death, Egbailo did not show any sign of
depression.
She
said, “The man complained that for the past three days, his wife had been away
from the house and gone to a church.
“Around
10am on Tuesday, both of them entered into the house. I guess he had just gone
to pick her from church.
“It
was not up to three minutes that I started hearing noise. I went to their
apartment and asked the man what the problem was, but he pushed me away and
kept hitting her. He dragged her on the floor, among other things.”
She
said she ran out to call for help when the beating was excessive.
The
landlady claimed that as other residents approached the house to mediate, the
suspect threw his wife into the gutter.
“I
begged her to wait outside till her husband calm down, but she said she wanted
him to kill her,” she added.
She
explained that the victim entered the house again and was beaten up until she
became weak.
“She
could not walk, so I decided to take her to a hospital. But nobody was willing
to help me. If we had a vehicle on time, we would have probably saved her life.
We were in front of my shop for about one hour, without any help.
“She
was still talking to me before she passed out. The last request she made was
that she needed palm oil,” she said.
She
said after the victim passed out, a tricycle was brought, which then conveyed
her to El Dunamis Hospital, where she was confirmed dead by doctors.
She
said she decided to report the case to the police to prevent the suspect from
escaping justice.
The
landlady described her as gentle, saying for the past four years that she lived
in the house, she never had a quarrel with her.
“We
discussed together and she always shared her challenges with me. When her
father came after she died, he kept saying his daughter never told him what was
going on in her marriage. She was always covering up for him,” she said.
It
was gathered that in 2011, the couple had a child together, named Israel.
Efforts
to have another child were said to have been abortive. The issue was reported
to have been responsible for the tension in the family.
Our
correspondent observed a motorcycle, which reportedly belonged to Ayodele, in
the compound.
The
landlady threatened to eject him from the house for allegedly hitting her
during the scuffle which led to the death of his wife.
A
close friend of the deceased, who did not identify herself, said Egbailo did
not give her any impression that she was being assaulted by her husband.
She
said the husband told her that Egbailo had been abducted since Sunday when she
went to church and was returned by the captors who discovered she was not
useful for their money ritual.
She
said, “The man said on that Tuesday, they had an argument after which she
threatened to kill herself. The man said he joked with her that if she wanted
to kill herself she should go ahead. He said in a jiffy, she had taken a bottle
of Sniper and drank it. He rushed to my shop to call me that his wife was
dying.
“We
rushed her to the hospital where she died. It was later I was told she had been
a victim of domestic abuse. She had never opened her mouth to tell me anything
like that.”
The
spokesperson for the Western Naval Command, Apapa, Lt. Commander Chinwe Umar,
said Egbailo committed suicide.
“From
the information available to me, the woman in question allegedly drank Sniper,”
she said.
The
Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, said the corpse had been
deposited in a mortuary for autopsy.
She
said, “We received a report that a naval rating fought his wife and she slumped
and was rushed to El Dunamis Hospital, where the doctors confirmed her dead.
The corpse was deposited in the Mainland General Hospital mortuary for autopsy.
The case is under investigation.”
Source:Punch
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Society