by ‘Jola Sotubo

A man in Oyo has been arrested by the police on allegations of murder after it was reported that he had beaten his uncle’s wife to death.

Tayo Oladosu is said to have caused the death of 60-year-old Mrs Aolat Muibi, his uncle’s mentally unstable wife after she was found with sever injuries including a deep gash on her head.

The suspect claimed in his defense that the deceased had formed the habit of scattering and taking his belongings and that he only gave her one stroke of the cane.

The Tribune reports:

Information gathered by Crime Reports revealed that the deceased who had been insane since 20 years ago lived opposite the suspect in their family compound at Labo area of Ibadan. It was learnt that because of her mental state, Mrs Muibi used to exhibit queer behaviours as she usually entered neighbours’ rooms to scatter their belongings. This had resulted in her getting several beatings from the owners of such property

Oladosu was not an exception as he also claimed that the woman frequently entered his room to dislodge his property, and would even take away some. When it happened again on Sunday, February 2 again, the 38-year-old man felt he could take it no longer, so he decided to deal with the woman. According to him, “when I came back home on Sunday, I met my things scattered and some of them taken away.

“Other family members told me that it was my uncle’s wife who did it, but she was nowhere to be found. The following day, as I returned from work, I saw her and went to her. I expressed my displeasure at what she did, telling her that she had refused to heed my warnings. I picked a cane to beat her so as to frighten her. She ran away in fright and fell at her door. The cane only hit her once.

“On Tuesday, I came from work and saw her at her door but I did not talk to her. It was Wednesday when I returned home from work that I learnt that Mrs Muibi was dead. We all went to the house of the head of the family (Mogaji) to commiserate with him on the loss of a family member.

I later heard that her children were saying that I was the one who beat the woman before she died. I quickly went to see one of my customers and was still with him when I received a call from one of my neighbours who told me not to come home as policemen were after me.”

When asked why he did not consider her mental state before beating her, Oladosu insisted that she was scattering his things deliberately, but said it was only a stroke of cane he gave her.

When his attention was pointed to the deep gash on the woman’s head and several injuries on her body, the suspect said that she probably sustained them from past beatings inflicted on by people whose things she tampered with.

Confirming the incident, the state Deputy Commissioner of Police, Clement Adoda said that the suspect would be charged to court after all investigations had been completed.