Juliana Francis
Ogudoro
A 54 years old man, Benjamin Ogudoro, accused of
killing his wife at the Festac area of Lagos State, a moment after she returned
from Scotland, has denied the allegation.
The suspect was further accused of not only killing his wife by setting her on fire but also her brother.
According to the police, the deceased had just returned from Scotland, where she had spent four years when the incident occurred. There are allegations that she rushed back to Nigeria after receiving information that her husband was planning to sell her property. Police are working on the theory that Ogudoro killed his wife because he wanted to sell her property.
Ogudoro, who was paraded on Thursday 14th, 2022 at the Command Headquarters, Ikeja, by the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), a Superintendent of Police, Benjamin Hundeyin, denied killing his wife and his brother-in-law. He further denied coveting her property.
Ogudoro said: “It is not true that I poured fuel on my wife and her brother. It is a case of a fire incident. My wife just came back on April 1, from Scotland. She called me about 9 pm, she probably wanted to take me unawares. I started rushing home and got home about 20 minutes later. She was already inside. When I got inside we hugged and I took some of her luggage. I welcomed her very well. We went to our rooms and started to kiss. But after a while, her phone rang and she picked up the call. She said she wanted to take the call where her brother, Ifeanyi, was because it concerned him. I said all right. She headed to the guest room.”
He continued: “After 30 minutes later, she didn’t return to the bedroom. I went to where she was with her brother and gave her a sign that I wanted to go out, to have a bottle of beer. I went to a junction about three poles from my house, and I had a drink. While I was there, Ifeanyi came to buy sachets water at the bar. The bar owner told me that my brother-in-law came to buy sachet water. When my people visited me at the police station, where I was detained I told them the truth that I was at the bar when the fire started.”
He recalled that when he got home, he opened the door to his apartment and saw flames of fire. He said that the fire burnt his hands and legs.
He said: “I shouted Ifeanyi and moved back because the flame was much. I started calling for help. Thank God the security guard was still around. I ran to the place where I went to drink to get help to rescue my wife and my brother-in-law.”
He added that it was because people usually stayed late at the bar that made him run there for help.
He said: “I called for help and told them that my house was on fire. I was begging them to pour water on me because my body was hot. They poured me water, which was the last thing I remembered until in the morning when I opened my eyes and found myself at the hospital.”
Responding to allegations that he killed his wife and brother-in-law because he wanted to sell the house, the suspect explained that he and his late wife agreed to sell the house because they needed to renew their two years visa. The new visa would cost about an N8million and at that point in time, Ogudoro said, his wife suggested that they should sell the house and relocate, stressing that the house at Lagos was no longer useful.
He recounted: “That was the reason I stayed back in Nigeria because I had a lot of things to do. I have my consulting firm and I wanted to put certain things in order so that when I was away, the firm would still be functioning. It was my wife’s manager who gave her the idea. They have discussed it before she told me about it. At the same time when we were able to gather the money for the visa renewal, we decided not to sell the house anymore. We didn’t have any misunderstandings. I don’t have any reason to kill her. If my phone was here, I would have shown you something; yes, a week before she returned, I sent her N300, 000 for the accommodation over there. I have been a very responsible husband and father to my children. Up till this moment, if you ask the people that were with me at the cell, for like four days, I had not taken my bath or eaten. I felt lost and when my friends visited at my cell, I told them that the news on social media was that I killed my wife. I didn’t kill my wife. My wife’s brother Ifeanyi, lived with us for five years. He used to spend his holidays with us. Our relationship was cordial; I have no reason to hurt him. Ifeanyi was the only son of the family and I have made every effort to raise him.”
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