Police have arrested a 39-year-old man, Tunmise Abraham, for allegedly killing her landlady, Mrs. Bukola Olanrewaju, after raping her in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
Abraham allegedly murdered the 39-year-old tailor and mother of three on Thursday last week.
But after his arrest, Abraham admitted killing Bukola but denied raping her.
The state Police Commissioner, Mr. Asuquo Amba, said the suspect was arrested at a church in Akure, Ondo State after linking up with his family.
He said: “The suspect, after committing the offence, ran to Akure. He took refuge in a church and that was where he was arrested.
“He had immediately called his family and told them why he did not come to their place. He said he had killed somebody in Ado-Ekiti.
“We had already done our homework and garnered that his sister is selling chemicals and police detectives had to trick her that they wanted to buy something from her. It was his sister who later led us to where he was.”
Confessing that he actually committed the offence, Abraham said he did it out of provocation.
The suspect said the deceased had provoked her over disagreement on house rent with Bukola’s husband, Mr. Raphael Olanrewaju, an indigene of Igogo-Ekiti from Moba Local Government Area.
Abraham, however, denied the accusation that he raped the landlady to death.
According to her, he only hit the victim in the head with a big stick before tying her hands to make her weak during a fisticuff.
He said: “I called her that day that I wanted to leave the house after paying N23,000 in June and this will last till May next. I said that the husband needed to refund part of my money for me to get another apartment, but the woman said that would never happen.
“We started the argument and she started calling me names. She abused me by calling me a ‘stammer,’ charlatan and other unprintable names, which angered me. She later held my clothes and I slapped her and pushed her away from me.
“The woman now came with a stick and I overpowered her and collected the stick, which I used to hit her on the head and she fell.
“Upon realising she had died, I became worried and I had to run to a church in Akure for refuge.”
Bukola’s husband, Raphael, said the disagreement he had with Abraham had been resolved when the suspect’s family paid N23,000 house rent, comprising the new and backlog of debt he owed.
“He had misunderstanding with my wife but it was settled. I never knew he had the intention to kill her. He killed my wife about 11a.m. when everybody, including me and my three kids had left home.
“It was my little girl who discovered that he was the one who did it. When police came to search his room, we saw a lot of incriminating goods that suggested that he was an armed robber. I never knew I was harbouring an armed robber since he came to my house last year.
“All I want is that the law must take its course,” Raphael said.
The state Police Commissioner, Amba, said his men also arrested two serial rapists, Babalola Olaniyo and Olupinla Dotun, who raped a girl at Olorunda area of Ado Ekiti metropolis last week.
The commissioner said all the suspects would be prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others.
