17th April, 2013
A housewife, Mrs Esther Peter has allegedly murdered her husband, Kenneth Peter Anayo, and set the remains on fire.
The incident happened at about 2 a.m. on Tuesday at their home at NEPA Phase I Road, off Bada Abawonlo Street, Ijagemo in Iba Local Council Development Area of Lagos State, southwest Nigeria.
Some of their neighbours told P.M.NEWS that the late Kenneth, a notorious Indian hemp seller and smoker in the area and his wife were always fighting during which they used dangerous weapons.
They alleged that the couple had a quarrel last Saturday when Kenneth alleged that his wife, a mother of one, aborted a four-month old pregnancy.
It was gathered that during the fight over the alleged abortion, Esther stabbed Kenneth with a broken bottle on his leg. While he was bleeding profusely, he was rushed to a nearby clinic where he was treated and discharged later that day.
However, neighbours said they noticed the couple’s room was on fire at about 2.30 a.m. on Tuesday, yet the door was padlocked. And when the door was forced opened, the charred body of Kenneth was seen inside the fire. But Esther, a mother with her son was not around.
A search party was organised by landlords at NEPA Phase I Road , Ilemeji before Esther was seen at about half a kilometre away from the scene of the incident.
According to an eyewitness, Alhaji Hamzat Tajudeen, Esther was arrested around Ashipa area with her belongings in a ‘Ghana-Must-Go’ bag, ready to escape with her son who is about two years old.
P.M.NEWS learnt that people nearly mobbed Esther when they saw the burnt remains of Kenneth which was lying in a way that suggested that he had died before the house was set on fire.
The deceased laid on his back with no sign that he struggled before the fire killed him. But the mob reportedly spared Esther because she was shouting that she is pregnant.
Esther is believed to hail from Calabar area of Cross River State, southsouth Nigeria, while her husband, an Ibo man, hailed from one of the southeast states of Nigeria.
She owned a shop close to their house where she sold recharge cards and also charged phone batteries.
The police from Isheri-Oshun division later removed the remains of Kenneth to their station and deposited it in a hospital mortuary.
Officials of the Lagos State Fire Safety Service who arrived the scene some hours later, co-tenants and youths in the area put out the fire.
The Lagos State Police Command image maker, DSP Ngozi Braide was not available for comment.
The Deputy PPRO, Damasus Ozoani confirmed the incident, saying that men of the Isheri-Oshun Police Division arrested the suspect immediately they were alerted while the corpse of the victim was removed to Yaba General Hospital mortuary for autopsy.
According to Ozoani, the suspect claimed the fire was caused by the candle lit in their room while she went to fetch water, contrary to the claims by neighbours that they heard the couple fighting before the fire incident.
Meanwhile, the suspect will be moved to the state Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Panti, Yaba, Lagos today where she will be interrogated by homicide detectives.
—Moyo Fabiyi