A Yaba Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos on Wednesday ordered the remand of one Udeme Odibi, a lawyer, for allegedly stabbing her husband to death.
The accused, 48, who was arraigned on a charge of murder, was remanded in Kirikiri prison.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that her plea was not taken by the court.
CSP Effiong Asuquo, the Officer in Charge of Legal Department of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department Panti (SCIID), told the court that the accused committed the offence on May 3 at Diamond Estate, Sangotedo, Lekki.
Asuquo alleged that the accused had stabbed her husband, Otike, with a knife, spilling his intestines before proceeding to cut off his genitals.
He also said that the accused tried to commit suicide by inflicting injuries on herself before she was rescued and rushed to the hospital.
Asuquo prayed the court to remand the accused in prison for the next 30 days.
He said that the case file had been duplicated and sent to the State Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) to obtain legal advice.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the offence contravened Sections 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, which prescribes death sentence.
Counsel to the accused, Oluseye Bamijoko, however, asked the court to remand the accused at the Ikoyi Prisons instead of Kirikiri prisons to allow neurologists and endocrinologists attend to her thyroid disease.
Bamijoko told the court that the accused is currently undergoing psychiatric and private evaluation.
He pleaded that his client be remanded at Ikoyi prison since the specialists attending to her are within Ikoyi/Victoria Island axis.
But the Chief Magistrate, Mrs Kikelomo Ayeye, rejected the request of the defence counsel and ordered the remand of the accused in Kirikiri prison.
She ruled that since Ikoyi prison does not have facilities for female inmates, the accused should be remanded at Kirikiri prison.
“Being at Kirikiri does not stop the specialists and endocrinologists from visiting and it’s sad that the Ikoyi prison lacks facilities for the female gender,’’ Ayeye said.
She, however, ordered that the accused be given privacy when interacting with her counsel or family members without the interruption of a third party (the presence of prison warders).
The chief magistrate also said that the burial of the deceased, which was scheduled to hold on Thursday, be put on hold.
Ayeye said that the burial should be suspended until final investigations had been completed.
She adjourned the case till June 25 for mention.
