Akolade Arowolo, who was found of guilty of stabbing his wife, Titilayo 76 times has been sentenced to death by hanging by an Ikeja High Court.
Arowolo continually shouted “Jesus have mercy”, as he wept.
In her judgment, which lasted more than three hours, Justic Okunnu held that evidence before the court proved that Arowolo actually murdered his wife in their matrimonial home.
Justice Okunu had relied on a forensic report produced by a pathologist, Prof. John Oladapo Obafunwa, showing that the deceased received 76 stab wounds.
Arowolo had maintained that his late wife fell on the knife while they had an argument but Justice Okunu declared that there was no way the deceased could stab herself such number of times, further maintaining that by the law principle of ‘Last Seen’, Arowolo was the only person with Titilayo when she was stabbed to death.
The judge said that with this understanding, coupled with the prosecution’s argument, the evidence was clear that Arowolo actually murdered his wife.
Arowolo, 36, had been in court since 2012 over the incident that occurred on 24th June 2011 at their residence, 8 Akindeinde Street, Isolo, Lagos. The late Titilayo was a staffer of Skye Bank.
The case was first handled by the Yaba Magistrates’ Court before it was transferred to the High Court in Ikeja by the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecution.
In the course of the case, 21 witnesses gave evidence with the Lagos State prosecution team, led by Mrs Olabisi Odugbesan, bringing 15 of the witnesses to convince the court that Arowolo did murder his wife.
The pathologist also revealed that Titilayo could not have inflicted such magnitude of injuries on herself, but family of Arowolo argued that their son was of good character while the wife’s family maintained that the relationship was characterised by domestic violence.
