EVERY June 24 will always ring a
bell in the mind of Akolade Arowolo, a 31 year old self acclaimed youth
pastor, who was last Friday convicted for killing his banker wife, Titilayo
Omozoje at their residence, 8, Akindeinde Street, Isolo, Lagos,.
This is because the day marks his
birthday and the day he brutally murdered his wife, which eventually
earned him a death sentence last week Friday. Justice Lateefa Okunnu of a Lagos
High Court sitting in Ikeja sentenced Akolade to death having found him guilty
of a murder charge pressed against him.
The events that led to the
court’s judgment are almost becoming history, however, the outcome of
Akolade’s actions as presented during the trial of the case will continue to
hunt him, as he awaits his appeal at the Court of Appeal and perhaps at the
Supreme Court.
Immediately the police concluded its
investigation, Akolade was initially arraigned on July 8, 2011
before a Yaba magistrate court on one-count charge of murder.
However, the DPP’s advice which indicated that there was a prima facie case
against him led to his fresh arraignment before Justice Lateefa Okunnu of the
state High Court on December 21, 2011.
The one count charge signed by the
Directorate of Prosecution, Mrs Olabisi Ogungbesan, read: “Arowolo Akolade (M)
on or about 24th day of June 2011 at 8, Akindele Street, Isolo, Lagos, in Ikeja
division, murdered one Titilayo Omozoje Arowolo,” and that the offence
contravenes Section 319(1) of the Criminal Code Law Cap 17 Vol 2 Laws of Lagos
State.
After the preliminaries, trial began
with 15 prosecution witnesses testified, including the father of the deceased,
sisters, step-mother, the couple’s neighbour, security guard and their
landlord. In his testimony, George Oyakhire, the deceased’s father, who
was the first prosecution witness told the court that his daughter sounded
tensed when he spoke with her on the day of the incident.
The witnesses also said that
on a number of occasions, the deceased had moved back home after quarrels
with the husband, but he had constantly told his daughter to report to the
police.
“She came back more than 10 times after quarrels with my daughter.” He also said he had witnessed the aggressiveness of the defendant, because he (Akolade) always beat her and threatened to throw her down from the top floor of their one-storey apartment someday.
“She came back more than 10 times after quarrels with my daughter.” He also said he had witnessed the aggressiveness of the defendant, because he (Akolade) always beat her and threatened to throw her down from the top floor of their one-storey apartment someday.
Some of the prosecution witnesses,
who forced the door of the couple’s apartment open the day after the incident,
had said Titilayo’s lifeless body was found on the bed soaked in blood.
Deceased sister testified next.
She said the younger sister, Folake
and herself called their sister, but Akolade was the one that answered the
calls on the deceased starcoms phone, after they couldn’t reach him
again. Later it was said that a friend, Mr Tolu Oyesanya called to say that the
convict had been seen with blood stains. They eventually went to the house the
next day.
Mr Adewale Tajudeen , a neighbour
was PW3. He said from his apartment, he could easily see some of the happenings
in the couples’ apartment.
According to him, on the day of the incident, he saw a deep cut on Akolade’s palm from which blood was gushing, but he didn’t answer any inquiries and simply shouted on the gate man to open the gate. He added that he told other neighbours and the next day they went to the police, to give statements.
According to him, on the day of the incident, he saw a deep cut on Akolade’s palm from which blood was gushing, but he didn’t answer any inquiries and simply shouted on the gate man to open the gate. He added that he told other neighbours and the next day they went to the police, to give statements.
Another prosecution witness was one
Mr Ogbonna, a member of the investigating team from the state CID, who told the
court that they inspected Akolade’s car and took photos. He said he visited the
scene twice and conducted a thorough investigation.
Another principal prosecution
witness was the deceased’s stepmother, who also testified to the extent that
the couple had never enjoy a jolly relationship as husband and wife. On her
account of what she saw on the occasion the door was forced opened, she
said, “There was a knife on the floor, a gaping hole on her chest, and a
hammer on the floor. One of her eyes was gorged out. When I saw it, I thought
there was nothing in the socket.
“Something that looked like a lump
of flesh must have been chopped off from the way the deceased was lying on the
floor. They had a stormy marriage…shortly after they married, there was a
quarrel, Kolade chased Omo (Omozoje)out with a knife. ” She added.
She testified that the deceased had
complained that she was tired of the house and wanted to divorced him.
She disclosed that in another incident, a house help said she saw the convict
in bed with another woman and reported to the deceased and she moved back to
her father’s house. She said, her father also told her not to go back, but
Akolade came back to beg and convinced the deceased and she eventually moved
back.
The Police witnesses also narrated
details of the bloodied crime scene and how the corpse was taken to the
hospital.
The “expert” witness of Professor John Obafunwa, a forensic pathologist and Chief Medical Examiner at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, according to the court provided ample evidence that the prosecution used to nail Arowolo.
The “expert” witness of Professor John Obafunwa, a forensic pathologist and Chief Medical Examiner at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, according to the court provided ample evidence that the prosecution used to nail Arowolo.
Justice Okunnu described Obafunwa’s
evidence as “completely professional,” noting that he was “objective, formal,
and impassioned.”
After the pathologist conducted a
five-and-a-half-hours postmortem examinations on the corpse on July 6, 2011, he
said, during his testimony, that he “discovered at least 76 stab wounds
resulting from the use of tremendous force on the chest, heart, lungs,
liver, diaphragm, hands and other parts of the deceased’s body. There must have
been many blows, stab wounds. It resulted in severe blood loss .
“The Stab wounds combined caused by
sharp weapon , a single and double edged wound. Injuries to the front of
the hear and back of the heart and wall of the heart. You can actually see
through to the inside of the chest wall which had collapsed. A particular stab
went through the rib cavity to the heart, the stomach was completely torn open.
“All these injuries could not have
been self-inflicted because, at a point, you would have dropped the knife,”
said Obafunwa.
The defence called six witnesses
which included the defendant, his parents, and one Efe Alexandra, who works
with a non-government organisation that visited the prison.
Mudashiru Arowolo, the convict’s father, said his son’s marriage to Titilayo had been characterized by undue interference by her father and stepmother.
Mudashiru Arowolo, the convict’s father, said his son’s marriage to Titilayo had been characterized by undue interference by her father and stepmother.
Mudashiru accused the deceased’s
stepmother of attempting to take away the placenta of the couple’s new baby, as
well as introducing fetish things into their home.
He also accused the stepmother of
assisting the deceased to “abort a baby and tie her womb as a form of family
planning,” without informing his son. He further said his son had been a youth
pastor at the Foursquare Gospel Church in FESTAC town before they moved to
Isolo and he started attending RCCG,Gbagada, where he was a youth pastor. He
also denied claims that his son was suspended by the church for womanising and
wife-snatching.
During her testimony, the second
defence witness, Bolanle Arowolo, had described her son as a well-behaved child
who had never showed traits of violence.
In his own testimony, Akolade, told the court that the whole incident happened on his birthday, 24th of June, 2011, and that his wife woke him up with a kiss, and that the disagreement started over their baby’s shopping.
He denied ever being aggressive against his wife.
In his own testimony, Akolade, told the court that the whole incident happened on his birthday, 24th of June, 2011, and that his wife woke him up with a kiss, and that the disagreement started over their baby’s shopping.
He denied ever being aggressive against his wife.
He said he only slapped her once,
because she valued her ex-boyfriend more than him. He told the court that she
(Titilayo) confessed that her step mum took her out for an abortion and he
reported to her mother, but he denied ever chasing his wife with a Knife.
He said the only time she had
bruises was when she had a fall from a bike. He however said she was
temperamental and the family called her ‘Thatcher’. He therefore denied
killing his wife, saying, “I love her. I never thought of it and I am not that
kind of person.”
The Court:
Justice Okunnu said the defendant’s (Akolade) own testimony served to tighten the noose around his neck as it was riddled with contradictions. The Judge said the evidence was disjointed statements, and “faux pas”.
“In his statements to the police after he submitted himself for arrest, Arowolo, had claimed that he was forced by the police to write that his wife’s stab wounds were self-inflicted. However, while giving evidence, Arowolo had insisted that his wife had only sustained cuts on her hands before he left her to seek for help.
Justice Okunnu said the defendant’s (Akolade) own testimony served to tighten the noose around his neck as it was riddled with contradictions. The Judge said the evidence was disjointed statements, and “faux pas”.
“In his statements to the police after he submitted himself for arrest, Arowolo, had claimed that he was forced by the police to write that his wife’s stab wounds were self-inflicted. However, while giving evidence, Arowolo had insisted that his wife had only sustained cuts on her hands before he left her to seek for help.
“In a statement, he wrote that she
persistently stabbed herself, that something went wrong either mentally or
spiritually. I have not ignored this piece of evidence that he was guided to
write the statements. The statements were disjointed and contradictory during
testimony.
“I note that he proffered excuses
for the strange behaviour of his wife. This explanation obviously came from him
and not from anyone guiding him. The defendant in the box was trying hard to
renege from his earlier statements,” said the court.
The judge also said that Mr
Arowolo’s claim that his late wife had attacked him with a knife was
inconsistent with the pathologist’s revelations that the deceased received
multiple stab wounds resulting to a “blunt force trauma.”
She held, “I have carefully
considered all the evidence. The issue is a simple one. It is the issue as to
whether the defendant kills his wife.”
The court stated it needs to consider three ingredients to determine the case of murder.
The court stated it needs to consider three ingredients to determine the case of murder.
These are whether the victim of the
alleged act is indeed dead, whether it was the act of commission or
omission of the defendant that caused the death and whether the
defendant carried out the act intentionally.
“From the evidence put before the court by the prosecution and the defence, the victim is indeed dead. It stands without rebuttal.
“From the evidence put before the court by the prosecution and the defence, the victim is indeed dead. It stands without rebuttal.
The prosecution showed acts of
characteristic violence in the marriage and showed that the defendant was
capable of committing this heinous act. This was contained in the evidence of
all four witnesses for the family, which showed an act of serial act of
domestic violence on the part of the defendant.
“I am convinced that the deceased
died from a repeated stabbing on that day because the testimony of the
prosecution is heavy and also that of the expert. The defendant also
testified to this. Almost two years later, he attempted changing his
statement that it was the police who told him to write that she stabbed
herself.”
She said Akolade’s words were
fluid like someone writing from the top of his head as what he personally knew.
“This is very weighty and very significant because he was the only other person in the room with her and it corroborates the evidence of the pathologist that she died of stab wounds.”
The court now raised the question of who killed her?
“This is very weighty and very significant because he was the only other person in the room with her and it corroborates the evidence of the pathologist that she died of stab wounds.”
The court now raised the question of who killed her?
Pathologist expert witness
She added, “This is where the evidence of the pathologist expert witness becomes useful. I found him to be very professional.” Justice Okunnu gave detail account of the testimony presented by Prof Obafunwa and concluded thus- “This is very damaging to the defendant. He testifies as to loads of wounds on the victim.
She added, “This is where the evidence of the pathologist expert witness becomes useful. I found him to be very professional.” Justice Okunnu gave detail account of the testimony presented by Prof Obafunwa and concluded thus- “This is very damaging to the defendant. He testifies as to loads of wounds on the victim.
The postmortem gives more details.
The deceased stomach was torn open. It details wounds to the body as well as
her clothing. He rules out the possibility of fresh wounds after death or
a case of tampering with the body.”
She said the line of defence that there was another person who may have committed the offence was defeated by the defence.
She said the line of defence that there was another person who may have committed the offence was defeated by the defence.
The court latter brought the
doctrine of ‘last seen’. It held that the person, who saw the victim
last, bears the responsibility for the cause of death. She said, “It supports
the proof already before the court and adds probative value to the
prosecutions’ case, that it was the defendant who killed his wife.”
“It is my findings that it is none
other than the defendant himself who stabbed the deceased to death. After
eliminating all other options, I find that it was the defendant who
stabbed his wife.”
The court said, “I studied him and
found him intelligent. He admitted that he did study logic and so he knew full
well that grievous bodily harm was the consequence of his action. Her resultant
death then turned to unlawful killing. His parents tried to debunk that
domestic violence characterized the marriage, his mother tries to cover up his
act and his father avoided questions put to him. The prosecution succeeded in
proving its case. The defendant is guilty and he is hereby sentenced to
death.”
No comments:
Post a Comment