An official of the Lagos State University, Samuel Ambe, has been arrested by the police for allegedly killing his lover, Mata Jidonu.
Thirty-two-year-old Mata was married to a lawyer, Sunday Jidonu, for whom she had three children.
It was learnt that the suspect worked at the Department of Works and Physical Planning of the university.
Ashiwaju.org gathered that Mata, who lived in the Agric area of Ikogazebba, Badagry, had left home around 3pm on February 15, saying she was going to buy foodstuffs in the market, but reportedly headed for the lover’s house, a few kilometres away.
Her husband, Sunday, who had returned from the court earlier that day as a result of illness, became apprehensive when she did not return on time.
He said, “I came back from the court that day around 2pm because I was ill. On getting home, I found out that my wife was dressed up, ready to go out. I told her to prepare coffee for me because that it is what I normally take in the afternoon. She said I had been taking too much coffee and advised me to eat eba that was already prepared.
“She put the stew on fire while she went to pick our last child, Laura, from the school. I told her to help me buy drugs along the road. The same motorcyclist that took her to and from the school waited for her outside and took her again supposedly to the market to buy beans.
“I slept after taking the drugs. Laura woke me up around 5pm and I asked his brother where their mother was. I called her number but it did not go through. I called her mother, our church and the centre, where she was doing a post-literacy study; they all said she was not with them.”
Sunday said he became more worried when it was 9pm and Mata did not come home. He added that he could not sleep conveniently till the following day when he reported at the Badagry Police Division.
“I was at the station, when the head of the vigilante group in our community called me on the telephone that my wife had been found dead in a bush path. When I got to the scene, a crowd had gathered and policemen from Ado-Odo Ota, Ogun State, had arrived to pick her corpse. She was strangled and stabbed in the leg. Her private parts’ hairs had been shaved off,” he added.
The lawyer told our correspondent that the nature of Mata’s death prompted him to talk to people living around the area, saying that he was told she used to go to the suspect’s home regularly and was there on February 15.
He said he gave the information to the police, leading to Ambe’s arrest.
He said, “I was told that my wife had been sighted with Ambe on several occasions at his second house and that she entered the building on the day the incident happened. He is a non-teaching staff member at LASU. His family members do not live with him in that house. I reported to the police and eight days later, he was arrested.
“As we were going to the station in a police van, he called somebody on the telephone, telling the person in Egun language that the fat woman had been traced to his house. He did not know that I understand the language.”
Ashiwaju.org learnt that Ambe’s phones were consequently seized and upon dialing the deceased’s number on one of the phones, it showed ‘D@M’ as the identity of the caller.
“The call logs we got from the MTN office revealed that he had been calling my wife every day since February 1. It was discovered that he had called her twice on February 15, the day she did not come back home,” he added.
It was learnt that the police recovered some charms from the suspect’s house, while bloodstains were found on the wall of the building
Sunday said, “He (Ambe) begged me to forgive him. He said he was not the one who killed my wife and that he was only dating her.
“But there are enough indications for me to believe that he is behind the death of my wife. Since then, some elders in the community have been threatening me to let go of the matter. I have also been noticing strange movements around my house.”
Confirming the incident via a text message, the Ogun State Police spokesperson, DSP Muyiwa Adejobi, said the command had enough evidence to prosecute the suspect, adding that he would be charged to court.
He said, “The suspect is with us. We have credible evidence to prosecute the suspect and he will soon appear in court.”
The Acting Head, Centre for Information, Press and Public Relations of LASU, Mr. Adekoya Martin, said the institution had not been officially informed about the incident.
He said, “I have contacted the chief security officer that was supposed to brief the management about the case, and he said the incident had not been officially reported. I will get back to you as soon as we are officially informed.”