A man identified as Matthew James, hacked his wife to death over suspicion that she was having an affair with another man in their community in Ogun State.
He killed his 55-year-old wife, whose name is Etim Mary, in their home in Idekan Farm Settlement in the Ijebu-Ode area of the state.
The incident took place around 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 16.
An eyewitness told Punch that police operatives from the Ijebu-Igbo Division had taken the suspect into their custody.
According to the eyewitness, the suspect claimed he and the deceased woman had a “blood covenant” not to betray each other.
“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 aging. 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.”
Omolola Odutola, the spokesperson for the state police command, commenting on the incident, stated that the wife was pronounced dead by the attending doctor after being rushed to the hospital by other residents.
“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.” She said.
