Alleged killer husband keeps mum on slain wife — Police

The police on Saturday said the alleged wife killer, Jafaru Sougie, has remained silent on the death of his wife, Roseline.

The 49-year-old suspect, who is recuperating in an undisclosed hospital, declined to speak with the police when asked to give his own side of the story.

This is just as one of the children, 16-year-old Richmond, said he was sad that the mother did not witness his sister’s birthday celebration slated for Sunday.

At about 2am on Friday, 26 years of marriage between the couple, who resided on Araromi Street, Oshodi area of Lagos, came to a tragic end when Jafaru allegedly slit Roseline’s throat with a knife and watched her dying in a pool of blood.

Unemployed Jafaru was said to have taken a poison after allegedly committing the dastardly act and was vomiting in the bathroom when Richmond and his aunt, who had slept in the living room, went into the inner room to wake Roseline up only to discover she was dead.

It was reported that the relationship had been marred with disagreements and serial assaults on the deceased by the husband who always accused her of infidelity. They had been sent packing from three different rented apartments in the area as a result of the domestic violence.

Our correspondent also reported that 46-year-old Roseline, a frozen food seller in Ijora, was the breadwinner of the family with five children, and had earlier wanted to quit the marriage but was advised against the decision for the sake of the children.

A police source on Saturday said that Jafaru, who was unconscious after taking the poison, had regained his health in the hospital but had declined to speak on the incident.

“He was rushed to the hospital because he was in critical condition after taking a poisonous substance. The poison has been neutralised and he is now much better but has refused to speak to us. We want to give him more time to fully recuperate,” the source said.

Another police source said the suspect’s family had denounced the claim that he killed his wife, adding that the case was still under investigation.

He said, “The suspect’s family said there are some people that were harassing the woman and demanding some money. They claimed it was those people that came into their house early that morning, slit the woman and poured chemicals into the suspect’s mouth. They believe the man didn’t kill the wife. But the victim’s family firmly believes he killed the woman.

“Since he arrived here, he has not been talking. When you ask him anything, he will only gesture with his hand. So, it is difficult to know what exactly happened. Once in a while, he will say, ‘chemical,chemical’ pointing to his mouth. Maybe in a day or two, he will recover to tell us what really happened.”