A woman, identified as Silifat Yakubu, has been reportedly murdered by her 45-year-old husband, Ismaila Salau, using a pestle following suspicions that she was cheating on him at Igbele village, Araromi in Badagry area of Lagos State.
After the murder, Salau allegedly dumped the body of the mother of two in a bush before proceeding to the police to file a report that his wife was missing.
Although the couple were said to have been having problems before that day, the police disclosed that the suspect, who is an electrician, returned from office and his wife was nowhere to be found and after waiting patiently for several hours, the woman reportedly returned home at about 11 PM.
According to reports, a few minutes after the wife arrived home, accusations and counter-accusations ensued. Salau was said to have accused his wife of adultery.
Halfway into the quarrel, the man who was so aggrieved by the wife’s actions reportedly picked a pestle and smashed it on his wife’s forehead and she died on the spot.
Hewas nabbed by detectives from the Homicide department of the Lagos state police command, attached to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Yaba, Lagos.
He claimed his actions were unintentional adding that he was shocked to discover that Silifat died after he slammed the pestle on her head.
The suspect said that because he was confused and did not know what to do, he waited till midnight to move the body. “When it was midnight, I dragged her body into the bush and left it there. Two days later, I went to the police to report that Silifat was missing. Before I went to the police, I organised a search party.The search party was led by the Baale of our village,”said Salau during interrogation.
The deceased elder brother had come looking for her. and Salau told him that she travelled and would be back after three days.
When he left, Salau told people around that his wife was missing and the search party eventually recovered Silifat’s body in the bush. But the people became suspicious when they noticed bruises and injuries on her body.
A source from the police said, “After discovering the body in the bush, the husband was invited to come and identify the corpse. But Salau said the body was not that of his wife.
“Before then, Salau had gone home to destroy all evidences that could reveal what transpired on the fateful day he killed his wife. The Baale later invited the police after the brutalised body of Silifat was discovered in the bush.”
Salau was eventually arrested under the suspicion that he knew more than he was telling the people. Salau’s story of his missing wife did not tally with the story he told Silifat’s brother that she travelled.
During the interrogation, the suspect owned up and disclosed that his was that his wife was dating other men notwithstanding that they were still legally married.
He reluctantly told the police how he killed his wife in a bid to hide the act.
