Admin l Thursday, October 25, 2018
IKEJA, Lagos, Nigeria – Lekan Shonde, a depot worker in the Apapa area of Lagos State on Wednesday, told an Ikeja High Court that he overhead his wife discussing her sexual escapade with her lover but denied killing his wife, Ronke. Lekan who is standing trial for the alleged murder of his wife said he slapped her after hearing the conversation but that he did not kill her.
Led in evidence by his counsel, Robert Clarke (SAN), Shonde told the court that he was provoked when he overheard his wife describing how her lover overwhelmed her in bed.
“On May 5, I got into the compound and climbed the staircase to the sitting room, I heard my wife speaking with someone on the phone saying that Kayode, ‘you’re sweet, what did you use in sleeping with me’. I was furious when I heard that so I slapped her from behind, she fell as a result of the slap and hit her face on the ground. She later stood up, held me and said she was sorry. She went into the room to change and had her bath. She had earlier asked me to buy moimoi and pap so that we will eat it for dinner so when she came out of the bathroom she asked me about the moimoi and I told her I will take my own moimoi with garri while she had her own with pap. Thereafter, I had my bath too and informed her that I was going to bed but she said she was going downstairs to play a bit.
“When I woke up at midnight, I met her sleeping on the couch, and I asked why she was still there, she said she will join me later and I went back to the room. On that fateful day, when I was going out, I saw her still lying on the couch with her phone beside her so I just drop her transport money like I normally do, locked the door with my own key and left for work.
“At my place of work, we usually drop our phone at the security post at the dock because of the nature of our work, so I dropped my phone and when I later went to check my phone in the afternoon, the battery was already drained. At about 4pm, my cousin came to look for me at my place of work and he told me that my father asked him to inform me of my wife’s death and I left immediately but the gridlock on the Apapa Expressway did not allow me to get to Oshodi until past 9pm, so I went to my father’s place in Ladipo with my cousin.
He further told the court that he stood by the statement he made at the police station. Lekan during cross examination by the state prosecutor, Y.G Osuala, denied going away with the deceased phone on the day of the incident., adding that when he overheard his wife on the phone was the first time he knew his wife was having extra-marital affair.
However, in his statement to the police he said he had caught the alleged Kayode in his sitting room sometime in March 2016, adding that on the day of the incident, he used the opportunity to take his wife’s phone to go through her text messages and Whatsapp message. He further told the court that he absconded for three days before turning himself in to the police because his father asked him to stay away for fear of people that wanted to hurt him. He, however, denied beating his wife when she was alive.
He said, “I’m surprise that the autopsy result showed evidence of assault, damages, trauma on her body because I only slapped her and I admit that the slap might have made her face swollen but I did not kill my wife.”
Earlier, the nanny, Sola Adamolekun, who gave evidence before the court said the deceased who normally opened the door for her was unable to open the door on the day of the incident.
She said, “I usually resume by 6am in the morning and the defendant would have slightly open the gate for me when he is going out to work while the deceased will open the door to the apartment for me.
“On the day of the incident, when I got to work, the main gate to the compound was locked, I have to knock and one of the neighbors opened the gate for me. On getting to the apartment gate, it was locked and I knocked but nobody answered me so I went downstairs to meet their neighbor to ask if they have seen them that day. As I was speaking with the neighbor, the elderly child of the deceased shouted ‘grandma’ and I asked him about his mother but he said she was lying down and would not wake up.
“I asked him to climb the stool and check if he could open the door but he couldn’t find the key. At that point I alerted the landlord and the neighbor’s grown son got a ladder and looked through the window but and he said, it looked like madam was dead. The police was contacted and the door was forced opened and we found madam lying face up, and the first thing I did was to take away the children from the scene.”
The presiding judge, Justice Josephine Oyefeso, adjourned the case till November 30 for adoption of final written address.
