Husband kills wife over son's custody

By Tunde Odesola, Osogbo

A few minutes after he fought her husband, Mr. Ajisafe Akande, a middle aged housewife, Fasila, died on the way to a private hospital in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, on Wednesday.






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Investigation by our correspondent showed that the couple, who lived separately, fought over who should take custody of their four-and-a half years old son, Abdullahi.

The incident, which occurred in the Balogun area of Osogbo, cast a pall over the densely populated area with the residents talking about the matter in clusters when our correspondent visited the area on Thursday morning.

Speaking with our correspondent at the Oja-Oba police station, where he is being held, Akande blamed the incident on the devil, claiming that he did not beat his wife, whom he accused of waywardness.

He said, "I did not like the way I met my son when I visited her on Wednesday night, so I told her I want to take my son away but she refused. We had four children but two of them died. The younger one, Kafila, is living with me. She was dragging the boy with me.

"The boy is not well taken care of. He was always very dirty. The mother abandons him and goes her way; this was why I wanted to take him away. He was the one that descended on me and bit my finger. I only pushed away.

"I went to the police to report that I have taken my son away from the mother. I left my phone number with the police. When the DPO called me on Thursday morning, I did not know it was to arrest me; I thought he wanted to settle the matter. I did not know my wife had died."

Police Public Relations Officer, Osun Command, Mr. Olabode Akinola, said the case would be transferred to the state Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation.

"Murder is a serious crime. We shall investigate the matter and charge the case to court as soon as we conclude investigation into the case," Akinola said.
http://odili.net/news/source/2009/mar/6/427.html