Murder of banker-wife: Court to give judgement

An Ikeja High Court, yesterday, reserved judgement in the trial of
Akolade Arowolo, who allegedly knifed his wife, Titilayo, a banker, to
death sometime in 2011.
Justice Lateefat Okunnu informed both counsels in the case that the
date for judgement would be communicated to them later by the court.
Okunnu stated this after both parties re-adopted their final written addresses.
Arowolo, 31, was arraigned on December 21, 2011, on a charge of
killing of his wife by stabbing her several times, but he pleaded
innocence of the crime.
The State Director of Public Prosecutions, Mrs. Olabisi Ogungbesan,
had earlier told the court that the accused murdered Titilayo on June
24, 2011, at their residence, No. 8, Akindeinde St., Isolo, Lagos.
Re-adopting the address, Ogungbesan argued that the prosecution had
proven its case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt.
She said:"The evidence we have that led us to the fact that the
deceased was killed is not in doubt.
"The only person that was with the deceased before her death at the
material time was the accused."
The DPP said Arowolo admitted that the accused "struggled" with the
deceased with a knife which led to her death and thereafter, escaped
from the crime scene.

Ogungbesan said the Chief Pathologist at Lagos State University
Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, Professor John Obafunwa, also testified
that the deceased was stabbed 76 times.
She said Arowolo chose to use a lethal weapon (knife) with the
knowledge that death or grievous bodily harm was the probable
consequence of his action.
"No other person could have been responsible for the death of the deceased.
"I urge my lord to convict the accused as charged, having proved all
the essential ingredients of murder."
Arowolo's counsel, Mr. Olarenwaju Ajanaku, however, urged the court to
dismiss the charge and acquit the accused.
Ajanaku said the prosecution had "failed woefully to prove its case
against the accused beyond reasonable doubt" as required by the law.
According to him, the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses were
filled with contradictions.
He said: "It is only being suspected that the accused was responsible
for the death of the deceased."
"No sufficient facts have been led to prove this suspicion."