[size=14pt]Ex-husband fingered in death of pregnant 35-yr-old woman •I did not kill her - Suspect[/size]

Written by Oluwatoyin Malik
Sunday, 20 November 2011

DETECTIVES at the Homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Iyaganku, Ibadan are currently working on resolving the controversy surrounding the death of a 35-year-old pregnant woman, Opeyemi Olawole, whose body was found in her room at Sagba’s Compound, Gambari community in Ogbomoso, Oyo State.

While the deceased’s co-tenant and landlord are claiming that she died during an altercation with her ex-husband, the man, Sunday Adeyi is maintaining his stance that he did not see the deceased the day she died, not to talk of having any argument with her.


The suspect, Sunday Adeyi. Photo: Oluwatoyin Malik.

Sunday Tribune gathered Opeyemi’s body was found in her room at about 7p.m. on Saturday October 22, 2011 sprawled on the ground with yam flour scattered all over the room. Shocked by this, her landlord had invited the police from Iresaadu Division and based on what he told the law enforcement agents, her former husband was arrested on the allegation that he killed the pregnant woman. The case was later transferred to SCID, Iyaganku for further interrogation.

However, Adeyi, an indigene of Ogbomoso who lives in Abogunde Village via Ogbomoso, denied killing the woman. According to Adeyi, “everything the landlord and the tenant said is a lie. I have nothing to do with her death. It is amazing and a mystery that such a lie is being told against me. I am just suffering for what I know nothing about”.

Giving an insight into his union with late Opeyemi and what led to their separation, Adeyi said: “I started a relationship with her about eight years ago and she had a baby girl for me whom we named Christianah. I was not her first man as she had a child for a man before I met her. I learnt that the man disappeared after she got pregnant and she never saw him again.

“A little over two years ago, I had cause to travel because I was working as a motor boy following truck drivers when I was not getting much to do as a trained bricklayer. Before I left home on the fateful day, I bought all the food items she would take with our daughter and even cooked soup for her. You can imagine my shock when I came back, only to meet an empty house. This was someone I didn’t quarrel with, there was no misunderstanding of any sort.

“I was told by our neighbours that she had followed one masquerade called Jascoli. I went to report to her family and her sister, Idowu, called Jascoli to return Opeyemi to her husband. Instead of coming back, she came two weeks after to pack her things from my house. I pleaded with her but she said I should leave her alone or she would call the police. I then told her that if she wanted to leave, she should bring my daughter back but she left and never brought the girl.

“Since then, I have not set my eyes on my child and did not even come across Opeyemi until I heard about her in October this year when I went to see one woman whom we call Iya Adura where she lived at Gambari. Iya Adura prayed for me and told me that Opeyemi recently, came to her house to tell her that she was beaten by Jascoli. To confirm what she told the woman, Iya Adura said that Jascoli came to her house to beat Opeyemi again, warning her that nothing must happen to the pregnancy she was carrying for him, which was the second after the child she had for him.

“I asked Iya Adura whether Opeyemi brought Christianah, my daughter, with her but she said she didn’t see my child with her. Iya Adura sent someone to her house to check if she was in but the person came back to say she was not around. I learnt she packed into the house after she broke up with Jascoli and left Iya Adura’s place. On my way out, I saw Opeyemi’s sister, Idowu, and she suggested we go to her house. Her sister introduced me to Opeyemi’s neighbours as her husband and since she was not around, we left.

http://tribune.com.ng/sun/crime-features/5617-ex-husband-fingered-in-death-of-pregnant-35-yr-old-woman-i-did-not-kill-her-suspect