{"id":23133,"date":"2014-02-21T18:26:12","date_gmt":"2014-02-21T17:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=23133"},"modified":"2014-02-21T18:26:12","modified_gmt":"2014-02-21T17:26:12","slug":"arowolo-sentenced-to-death-for-killing-banker-wife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/arowolo-sentenced-to-death-for-killing-banker-wife\/","title":{"rendered":"Arowolo Sentenced to Death For Killing Banker Wife"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Justice Lateefat Okunu of the Ikeja High Court Friday sentenced Akolade Arowolo to death over the death of\u00a0his banker wife, Titilayo Omozeje in 2011.
\nArowolo who is a youth pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Gbagada Parish, Lagos, southwest Nigeria, has been on trial in the court since 2012 over the murdered of Titilayo, a Skye Bank Staff, on 24 June, 2011 at their residence, 8, Akindeinde Street, Isolo, Lagos.
\nJustice Okunu held in her over three hours judgment that evidence before the court proved that Arowolo actually murdered his wife in their matrimonial home.
\nRelying mainly on a forensic report conducted by Prof. John Oladapo Obafunwa, a pathologist, the court held that there was no way the deceased could have stabbed herself to death.
\nJustice Okunu held that by the law principle of \u2018Last Seen\u2019 since Arowolo was the only person with his wife when she was stabbed, no one but him could have killed her.
\nUpholding the prosecution\u2019s case, Justice Okunu held that evidence proved beyond doubt that Arowolo gruesomely murdered his wife with tremendous knife stab force.
\nImmediately after the judgment, Arowolo fell down in the dock and started shouting \u201cJesus have mercy.\u201d
\nIronically, Arowolo was sentenced to death today, Friday, the same week day he killed his wife.
\nArowolo was led into the courtroom at 9:30a.m. by prison officials. His countenance portrayed someone who had come to terms with whatever fate would befall him.
\nHe wore a white short sleeve shirt and black trousers. Moments after he entered the courtroom, Arowolo immediately knelt down and prayed for about 15 minutes. He thereafter started reading the Bible until the court began sitting at about 9:45a.m.
\nArowolo was formally charged with his wife\u2019s murder on Friday, 7 July, 2011 before a Yaba Magistrates\u2019 Court.
\nThe matter was later transferred to the Ikeja High Court following an advice by the Directorate of Public Prosecution, PDP.
\nThe state had alleged that Arowolo murdered Titilayo, a banker, on June 24, 2011 at their residence, 8, Akindeinde Street, Isolo, Lagos.
\nA total of 21 witnesses gave evidence in the case that lasted for 26 months.
\nThe Lagos State prosecution team, led by Mrs Olabisi Odugbesan led 15 witnesses in evidence to convince the court that Arowolo murdered his wife.
\nOne of the key witnesses was Prof. John Oladapo Obafunwa, a pathologist who conducted an autopsy on the deceased.
\nProf Obafunwa testified that his autopsy report revealed that Titilayo was killed through 76 knife stab wounds.
\nHe noted that the knife wounds affected Titilayo\u2019s left eye, right eye, upper chest area, right chest and collar bone.
\nProf. Obafunwa pointed out in his testimony that the deceased could not have inflicted such wounds on herself.
\nTo further prove its case, prosecution invited some of Titilayo\u2019s family members who testified that Arowolo and Titilayo had always had a troubled marriage.
\nThe family members included Titilayo\u2019s father, George Oyakhire; sister, Ijeh and mother-in-law, Mrs Adetoun Yeside Oyakhire.
\nThe three witnesses testified that the couple lived a cat and mouse life. They claimed that the family had at several times, settled serious fights between the couple. None of the witnesses however saw what actually happened on the day Titilayo died.
\nArowolo\u2019s co-tenant, Adewale Adeyemi also gave evidence in the case. Adeyemi in his evidence said that on the day of the incident he heard a loud noise when he was in his apartment and later saw Arowolo rushing out with a deep cut in his palms.
\nHe claimed to have also seen a hammer and a knife with a broken handle in the yard. Other witnesses such a the security man at the Arowolos\u2019 residence, Investigating Police Officer and an MTN Staff also gave evidence in the case.
\nHaving presented its case, the burden was shifted on Arowolo to defend himself. Expectedly, Arowolo had his personal explanation as to what happened on the day Titilayo died. First, he claimed that he and his deceased wife had passionate sex for two hours and kissed on the same day she died.
\nHe claimed that Titi stabbed herself to death on the day after they had a fight. Arowolo claimed that Titilayo was possessed by an evil spirit and inflicted several stab wounds on him before turning to herself.
\nArowolo\u2019s father, Mudashiru and mother also testified of their son\u2019s good behavior, insisting he could not have killed his wife.
\nThey claimed that he has always been a religious person and was incapable of killing anybody.
\nAn ex-journalist, Mrs Omordia, who now works for Bringer International, a non-government organisation involved in the counselling and rehabilitation of prison inmates, also testified that despite the negative perception about Arowolo, he has exhibited an exemplary character in the NGO\u2019s leadership training programme held inside the prison.
\nMrs Omordia also testified that the defendant had shown exemplary leadership qualities in the prison environment and was a member of the prison\u2019s recreation, reformation and rehabilitation club.
\nAddressing the court on concluding his defence, Arowolo\u2019s lawyer, Olanrewaju Ajanaku, submitted that there was no substantive evidence linking his client to the murder of his wife.
\nHe noted that since none of the prosecution witnesses saw the alleged fight between the couple, their testimonies were mere hearsay.
\nAjanaku argued that it would be improper for the court to convict his client based on the evidence provided by persons who were not present at the scene of the incident.
\nHe urged the court to discharge his client since none of the prosecution witnesses were able to directly link his client to the murder of Titi.
\nProsecution counsel Olabisi Ogungbesan, however, countered Ajanaku\u2019s submission, saying that prosecution has provided enough evidence for the court to convict Arowolo.
\nOgungbesan said that evidence provided by prosecution showed that the defendant was the only person present with the deceased who forensic analysis proved was killed by multiple knife stabs.
\nShe also noted that the defendant was seen with blood stains in his car by the police moments after the alleged fight with his late wife.
\nOgungbesan also submitted that Arowolo\u2019s act was intentional since he allegedly stabbed the wife more than 76 times and urged the court to convict the defendant as charged.
\nSource: PMNews<\/div>\n

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Justice Lateefat Okunu of the Ikeja High Court Friday sentenced Akolade Arowolo to death over the death of\u00a0his banker wife, Titilayo Omozeje in 2011. Arowolo who is a youth pastor…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nArowolo Sentenced to Death For Killing Banker Wife - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/arowolo-sentenced-to-death-for-killing-banker-wife\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Arowolo Sentenced to Death For Killing Banker Wife - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Justice Lateefat Okunu of the Ikeja High Court Friday sentenced Akolade Arowolo to death over the death of\u00a0his banker wife, Titilayo Omozeje in 2011. 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