Justice Served

Akolade Arowolo (M)

After three years, a man who killed his banker wife in Lagos was finally sentenced to death by hanging. But the fate of their six-year-old daughter is not known, writes Chiemelie Ezeobi

She was barely three years old when the world around her crumbled like a pack of cards. First, her father killed her mother in a bizarre manner. Then, her father was put behind the bar for justice to take its place.

And now six years old, Olamide, the only child of Akolade Arowolo and late Titilayo has bigger issues on her plate. Her father has just been sentenced to death by hanging for killing her mother. She is all alone in the world. She would soon be an orphan.

Her late mother, Titilayo would have been 31 years of age were she to be alive but life was snuffed out of Titilayo at age 29 on Saturday, June 24, 2011 by her husband. But when Titilayo (nee Oyakhire) and her husband Akolade Arowolo said their vows during their wedding in 2009, it was sacred words they swore to keep.

Indeed, nothing prepared Titilayo for a day in which the love she once shared with her husband would turn bestial. The deceased, a staff of Syke Bank was described as a jovial and warm person by her colleagues and those who encountered her before she died.

How she Died
The murder scene was at no 8 Akindeinde Street, Isolo, a street tucked away inside one of the crowded suburbs of Lagos State. Incidentally, the murder took place on the convict's birthday. Titilayo's death was uncovered by her worried parents. She had promised to visit them during the weekend, but she didn't show up as expected. So they called her handset but it was Arowolo who picked up the handset and blocked them from talking to their daughter on the pretence that she was busy.

She was actually dead.

When they waited in vain for her to return their calls, they called in the police and met the dismembered body of their daughter.

She was stabbed all over her body with her left breast chopped off and the murder weapon, a knife embedded in her neck. She was also stabbed severally in the face, neck, back, wrist and chest region.

The culprit who happened to be her husband took to her heels to cover up, but he was later arrested by the police.

After autopsy and investigations were carried out, the deceased was buried on November 16, 2011, following a funeral service organised for her at the Foursquare Church, Alagomeji, Yaba.

Finally, a day after her burial, a coroner's inquest into the cause of the death was commenced at the Chief Magistrates' Court, Ebute Metta. That came with a myriad of court sittings, witnesses and presentation of evidence.

History of Violence
After her death, neighbours, family and friends finally opened up on the history of abuse Titilayo suffered in the brief marriage. The deceased was said to have always tried to cover up the bruises that kept on turning up on her face while she was alive. Although neighbours claimed that they had stepped in to save her in times past, they could not however on that fateful day she was killed, because it rained heavily in Lagos and the sounds of the rainfall probably muffled her screams.

Husband's Defence
Arowolo said contrary to public opinion, the deceased stabbed herself to death, although he admitted that they were having serious issues in their marriage.

He said: "The woman was possessed that day and while we were quarreling, she went into the kitchen and brought out a knife with which she overpowered me and then began to stab me all over my body and head.

"The next thing I saw, she started stabbing herself repeatedly with the knife while telling me that she was tired of the marriage and that
since I did not want to let her go, she will kill me and then kill herself."

It was his claims that triggered off the response from the state government. The state promptly recommended a psychiatric test for the convict to ascertain the level of his sanity.

Suicide Attempts
perhaps overcame by guilt or for the sheer drudgery prison life exerted on him, Arowolo had in September 2011 attempted suicide in the prison. He almost succeeded at each attempt but was often found at the nick of time by the officials.

During one of his attempts to take his own life at Ikoyi Prisons, he drank acidic substance. His wish was terminated as he was taken to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Lagos. The last attempt was so bad such that the doctors had to carry out surgery on him. For weeks, he was fed through a tube because his stomach could not retain solid food.

The Court Process
It was a long way to justice sprinkled with different court appearances, adjournments and the rest. First, there was the issue of the autopsy which took considerable time before the court hearing was adjourned till October 26, 2011 by the Magistrate who was in charge of the case, Mrs. Demi Ajayi of Yaba Chief Magistrate's Court. Her reason was that the court was awaiting advice on its jurisdiction from the Directorate of Public Prosecution.

Arowolo later appeared before Justice Lateefat Okunnu at the Ikeja High court on December 21, 2011, where he was arraigned by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mrs. Olabisi Ogungbesan, on a one-count charge of murder. This was months after he had been arraigned at the Ebute-Metta Magistrate Court. Later, the case was fixed for commencement of trial on January 13, 2012.

The case was also heard on September 28, 2012 and also on March 27, 2013, where the deceased's stepmother took to the witness stand. On October 15, 2013, pathologist, Professor John Obafunwa also testified before the court.

The case also suffered a hitch in October last year after the court fined the defence counsel for delaying proceedings. While adjourning the case to October 31, 2013, she also imposed a fine of N10, 000 on Arowolo's counsel, Mr Olarenwaju Ajanaku, for wasting the time of the court.

Okunnu said Ajanaku's failure to file and regularise the defence processes was a setback to the speedy conclusion of the case.

But on December 22, 2013, the court reserved judgement after both parties had re-adopted their final written addresses. Finally, the court sat on February 21 and ruled in a judgment sentencing Arowolo to death by hanging.

Evidence that Nailed Him
The long journey to bring Arowolo to book saw 15 witnesses on the stand as he was charged on a one count charge. From neighbours to investigation officers and pathologists, they all delivered facts that nailed Arowolo.

The charge which was signed by the Directorate of Prosecution, Mrs Olabisi Ogungbesan, stated that the offence contravenes Section 319(1) of the Criminal Code Law Cap 17 Vol 2 Laws of Lagos State.

When he was summoned to court, one of his neighbours, Adewale Tajudeen, said he actually saw the convict with a deep cut on his hands as he ran out of the compound.

And as exhibits after exhibits were tendered in court, the prosecutor from the SCID also furnished the court with pictures of Arowolo's blood-stained car.

But what was probably the climax was the concrete evidence from the forensic pathologist, Professor John Obafunwa, a Chief Medical Examiner at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.

At the end of a five-and-a-half-hour postmortem examinations on the corpse, carried out on July 6, 2011, Obafunwa told the court that he discovered at least 76 stab wounds on the chest, heart, lungs, liver, diaphragm, hands and other parts of the deceased's body, which he said resulted in severe blood loss.

He disparaged Arowolo's claim that the deceased stabbed herself to death. According to him, from the way the cut went through the rib to the heart as well as the stomach, the injuries couldn't have been self-inflicted.

He said: "The wounds were caused by a sharp weapon and we saw injuries to the front, back and wall of the heart. You can actually see through to the inside of the chest wall which had collapsed.

"A particular stab went through the rib cavity to the heart; the stomach was completely torn open. All these injuries could not have been self-inflicted because, at a point, you would have dropped the knife."

The deceased's stepmother who was also brought to the witness stand confirmed that they met her in a pool of her own blood with her eyes gorged out and her flesh in pieces.

But Arowolo's parents rose in his defence, claiming that their son was not a violent person. According to the father, Mudashiru Arowolo, undue interference by the deceased's father and stepmother brought chaos into the young marriage in addition to the alleged abortion done by the deceased with support from the stepmother.

Although, he did deny killing her, Arowolo admitted to the court that he only slapped her once because she valued her ex-boyfriend more than him.

Judgment Day
Last week, almost three years after the case was taken to court, Justice Lateefat Okunnu of Ikeja High Court found Arowolo guilty and sentenced him to death by hanging.

In her judgment, Justice Okunnu said the convict's statement was disjointed with half truths, adding that his attempt to claim that he wrote his first statement under duress was contradictory.

She said: "In a statement, he wrote that she persistently stabbed herself, that something went wrong with her either mentally or spiritually. I have not ignored this piece of evidence that he was guided to write the statements. The statements were disjointed and
contradictory during testimony.

"His claim that his wife killed herself with a knife was inconsistent with the pathologist's revelations that the deceased received multiple stab wounds resulting to a blunt force trauma.

"I am convinced that the deceased died from a repeated stabbing on that day because the testimony of the prosecution is heavy and also that of the expert. This is very weighty and very significant because he was the only other person in the room with her and it corroborates the evidence of the pathologist that she died of stab wounds."

Using the doctrine of 'last seen' syndrome, which states that the last person to see a victim bears the responsibility for the cause of death, she said after eliminating all other options, the defendant was found guilty of stabbing his wife to death and therefore die by hanging in conformity with the law of the land. Immediately after the judgment, Arowolo fell down in the dock and shouted "Jesus have mercy."

Of course, the defendant's counsel, Mr. Olanrewaju Ajanaku, said they would examine the possibilities of appeal since the court didn't address certain germane points. But now, members of the civil society groups who helped pushed the case to the front have described the judgment as a great one.

According to the President of Women Arise, Joe Odumakin, "At last, justice has been done and now we can tell Titilayo goodnight. No matter how long, nemesis would catch up with perpetrators of crime.

"Sometimes, justice delayed is not justice denied. The judgment is a lesson that people should not take laws into their hands. If you have grievances, leave it to the court to end it amicably.

"You can't pour old wine in a new jar without its taste not changing. Of course there is room for appeal but this judgment stresses the point that the judiciary is the last resort."

She called on spouses in abusive relationships to call it quits before it could go worse. She said: "When it doesn't work, it's better for the person to move on. We counsel immediate family members that keep telling them to endure that there is a way one can overstretch endurance."

The Excutive Director of Project Alert, Josephine Chukuwma lamented the delay in bringing out information to the public about domestic violence saying that Titilayo's life could have been saved.

Chukwuma had said the incident was painful because the deceased had borne the domestic abuse silently without going for professional help, adding that religious bodies should help promote the fight against domestic abuse.