A welder, Bidemi Akande, has allegedly killed the breadwinner of a family of seven children in the Ogba Ayo area of Ogun State.
Akande reportedly pushed the woman, Shakirat Fatusi, aka Olopa, and she slammed her head on the ground during a disagreement between them.
The 43-year-old woman was said to have gone into a coma and died at a trado-medical centre.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Shakirat sold pepper and drinks in a shop near her residence on Gabriel Onifade Street, Ogba Ayo.
Shakirat and Akande had reportedly kept each other at arm’s length for sometime after she allegedly mediated in a fight involving Akande and his wife.
She was said to have gone to Akande’s wife’s shop around Ogba Ayo Under Bridge to buy pepper souparound 11pm on Tuesday.
It was gathered that Akande arrived at the shop and met Shakirat and two others.
He reportedly made derogatory remarks about the victim, who became upset.
During a scuffle that ensued, Akande reportedly pushed her to the ground and she lost consciousness.
One of the deceased’s children, Bashirat Fatusi, said Akande promised that her mother would regain consciousness after 24 hours, adding that instead, her condition deteriorated.
She said, “My mum wanted to buy pepper soup from Iya Tolani (Akande’s wife). While she was waiting, she and Baba Tolani (Akande) started exchanging words. He came to report her to my father, but he was not around. He then reported her to Iya Idris, my father’s sister, and went back to shop.
“By the time I got there to see what was happening, my mother was lying on the ground. He fled, but people caught him. I demanded that she should be taken to a hospital, but he said there was no need for that. He said she would be fine in the next 24 hours.
“We brought her home, but there was no improvement. We rushed her to Tofunmi Hospital in the morning. A test was conducted on her and the doctor said her sugar level had risen. She was referred to another hospital, from where we went to Ota General Hospital. Immediately we got there, a doctor referred us to a hospital in Abeokuta.
“Somebody directed us to Dr. D. John Trado-medical Centre in the Gasline area. She died at the centre. The man said a charm was used to hit her. We called Baba Tolani to give her the antidote, but he refused.”
Shakirat’s husband, Segun Fatusi, who said he was at work when the incident happened, insisted that Akande killed his wife.
He said she was hale and hearty prior to the scuffle.
“We have seven children together and she was the one catering to them. He had been having disagreements with my wife because she always asked him not to beat his wife. If he had allowed people to take her to a hospital that night, she might have survived. It was when I came back from a hotel where I worked that we took her to the hospital,” he said.
The deceased’s in-law, Kayode Akanni, who took her to the trado-medical centre, said the native doctor wanted to administer a concoction on her when she gave up the ghost.
“Before she died, I called the man (Akande) on the telephone to bring the antidote; he said he was at Agege, Lagos State. When I called him again, he said he was at Ibafo. I asked him to tell me the antidote on the telephone, but he said he did not care if she died and he ended the call,” he added.
Our correspondent learnt that Akande was arrested by a police team led by the Divisional Police Officer, Agbado Police Station, CSP Sunday Omonijo.
However, the suspect, a native of Akoko, Ondo State, denied using a charm to hit Shakirat.
He said, “After I returned home from work that day, I went to my wife’s shop to eat. On getting there, I met an elderly man, Ajabale, doing the dishes for my wife.
“One woman that was with us jokingly said, ‘Baba Tolani, Ajabale is your wife’s husband.’ In response, I prayed that God should not turn our destiny into a mess. I didn’t know that Olopa was at my back. She said I was referring to her and slapped me.
“I went to report her to her husband, but he was not around. I reported her to a neighbour and he promised to settle the matter the following day. I went back to my wife’s shop so that we could go home together.
“As we wanted to leave, she descended on me again and started hitting me. She tore my clothes. People came out to separate us. She came back and gripped my clothes. I pushed her and she slumped. A mob beat me up.
“I was at work the next day when my wife called me that Olopa had been rushed to a hospital. I told her to borrow me some money to take her to the hospital. I didn’t use any charm on her.”
The Ogun State police spokesperson, ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Department, Eleweran, on the orders of the state Commissioner of Police.
He said, “The suspect pushed the woman to the ground at a pepper soup joint during an argument and she gave up the ghost. The CP has directed that the case be transferred to the Homicide Section of the SCIID for further investigation.”
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