By Gbenga Sodeinde, Ado Ekiti
The family of Odunayo Ismaila, who was allegedly strangled to death by her husband, Azeez Ismaila, about three weeks ago at Ureje, area of Odo in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital has vowed to go spiritual to unravel the cause of her death.
This follows her husband’s denial of being responsible for her death
Though the accused was remanded last Monday by an Ado Ekiti magistrate’s court pending the time the police would be able to come up with the real cause of her death, a family source hinted that they are unhappy and uncomfortable with the pleading of the accused that their daughter died not as a result of the beating she received from him during their quarrel but as a result of cough.
The source told our correspondent that Azeez, 29 and his wife 27, had never enjoyed their marriage since six months ago when Odunayo gave birth to a girl child for the third time, contrary to her husband’s expectation of a baby boy.
It was gathered that “minor issues always caused quarrels between them, which made the deceased suffer serious injury in the hands of her husband who would occasionally beat her until blood comes out of her body.”
The last fight, according to our source, began during the last Eid-el-Kabir when the husband allegedly gave N2000 to his wife for the celebration but the woman claimed the money was stolen from her.
This, according to eyewitnesses, led to a serious argument that degenerated into another fight and the husband allegedly beat up his wife and strangled her to death.
At the Magistrate’s Court, Ado Ekiti, where the case was heard, the accused denied the allegation that he killed his wife, saying the woman had a cough on the fateful day and died before she could be rushed to the hospital.
Police Prosecutor, Sgt. Bankole Olasunkanmi, however, told the court that the accused killed his wife on September 25 in contravention of Section 319 of the Criminal Code, Cap C16 Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.
Olasunkanmi prayed the court for an adjournment to enable him duplicate the case file to the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice.
The accused was represented at the court by his defence counsel, Mr Ayorinde Busuyi, who also pleaded on behalf of his client and his plea was taken.
Chief Magistrate Taiwo Ayenimo ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody, adding that police should do the autopsy on time to ascertain the cause of the death, and the court adjourned till October 29 for legal advice.
The corpse of the woman has been deposited in the mortuary while the husband remains in police custody.
Father of the decease, Ojo Ajewole, in an interview denied the claim that the late Odunayo was ill before the incident, insisting there had been incessant quarrels between the couple over the sex of their three female children.
Another prominent member of the family of the deceased who claimed anonymity hinted our correspondent that “we would do everything to ensure that justice is done to the killer of our daughter. We will go spiritual, and the killer of our daughter will not go unpunished. She did not have any illness before and she was very gentle and very kind.”
