Residents of Idekan Farm Settlement in the Ijebu-Ode area of Ogun State were left shocked when a man named Matthew James killed his 55-year-old wife, Etim Mary, due to suspicions of her having an extramarital affair.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the incident took place around 8:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Our correspondent learnt from several community and police sources that the suspect, now in police custody, committed the crime after suspecting that his late wife was having an extramarital affair with another man in the community.
An eyewitness, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the police operatives from the Ijebu-Igbo Division had taken the suspect into custody.
The eyewitness further told our correspondent that the suspect claimed he and the deceased woman had a “blood covenant” not to betray each other.
The source said, “They had a blood covenant that they would not leave each other. He suspected the wife was having an extramarital affair. The woman had been married before she met James. He married her when the woman was already ageing. She had grown up with children before James married her.
“James is claiming they both had a blood covenant not to leave each other for any reason. He just returned one morning with a machete and hacked the woman to death. He didn’t run away after committing the crime. He just stood beside her after.”
The spokesperson for the state police command, Omolola Odutola, commenting on Monday’s shocking incident, stated that the wife was pronounced dead by the attending doctor after being rushed to the hospital by other residents.
She said, “She was found lying in the pool of her blood just in front of the house about 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. She had deep cuts on her forehead, shoulders, and other parts of her body. The husband was found with the blood-soaked machete he was believed to have used to commit the crime.
“The body was taken to a general hospital in Ijebu-Igbo, where she was certified dead by a doctor on duty. Her corpse has been deposited at the Alayangbe Private Mortuary in Oke-Agbo, Ijebu-Igbo, for the autopsy.
“We will move the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Abeokuta as soon as the preliminary investigation is concluded.”
PUNCH Metro reported a similar incident in April in Ekiti, where a suspect named Dare Onipede allegedly killed his wife, Arinola, during a dispute over accusations of her having an extramarital affair.
The suspect allegedly stabbed his wife, the mother of three, to death during the incident.
