By Christopher Oji
The Lagos Lagos State Police command has arrested two suspected killers. While one was arrested for allegedly setting his wife and brother in-law ablaze, another was picked for allegedly smashing the head of his one month-old child on the floor after a minor quarrel with his wife.
Mr. Benjamin Nkemakolam Ogudoro, who was alleged to have set his wife, Chinyere, who just returned from Scotland and her younger brother, Ifeanyichukwu Edoziem ablaze, denied the allegation, saying that fate was only playing with him.
The police have accused him of killing his wife and her younger brother with the intention of selling the house at 5, Zone 7, Oteyi Garden Estate, Abule Ado, which belonged to his wife.
But in a swift reaction, Ogudoro denied the allegation.
“On the fateful day, on April 1, my wife arrived in Lagos from Scotland without informing me. I was somewhere around 9pm when she called with her Nigerian number that I should come and open the gate for her. I didn’t get angry that she paid a surprise visit. I was thinking, maybe, she wanted to see if I had a girlfriend or if I had married a new wife. I ran down home from where I was and welcomed her. When she entered the house, she told me to excuse him and his younger brother to have some family discussion. I didn’t get angry and I left them alone as they went straight to our guest room and started discussing with her only brother who had lived with me for five years.
“When I waited for sometime and their discussion was being too prolonged, I decided to go and take one bottle of beer in a nearby joint. After drinking the beer, I returned home and they were still holding talks. So I decided to stay in our sitting room and watch the television. While I was watching TV, I saw flames coming out from the house and when I opened the door from where the flame was coming out, I was hit by a serious heat wave and some part of my body got burnt. I ran away and started calling for help. I didn’t know how I found myself in the hospital.
“Well, it was a mere coincidence that the fire happened the same day my wife returned to Nigeria. It is suspicious, though, but fate was dealing with me. My wife owned the house and the documents are in her name. She bought the house when she was a manager at Fidelity Bank. We were planning to sell the house when she wanted to renew her Visa and those of her children in Scotland. But when we got money, we decided not to sell the house again. I didn’t kill my wife and her younger brother. I love my wife and we are living in harmony.”