by Arukaino Umukoro
Titilayo and Akolade and Arowolos’ residence where the murder took place
Following the sentencing of Akolade Arowolo for killing his banker wife, ARUKAINO UMUKORO visited their former residence and family
IT took almost six hours of an autopsy, which was covered in a 17-page report, the evidence of over 20 witnesses, over 20 court appearances, 32 months, and a two-and-a-half hour judgment to unravel the mystery behind the death of a banker, Titilayo Arowolo (nee Oyakhire).
The autopsy report summarised the cause of death as “multiple thoraco-abdominal injuries and multiple sharp and blunt force trauma.”
On Friday, February 21, a Lagos High Court in Ikeja sentenced to death by hanging 32-year-old Akolade Arowolo for the murder of his wife, Titilayo, who he repeatedly stabbed to death at their residence at No. 8, Akindehinde Street, Isolo, Lagos, on June 24, 2011.
Akolade was arraigned for murder on December 21, 2011.
When our correspondent visited the Isolo residence of the Arowolos on Thursday, it was quiet.
“My heart goes out to their little daughter. If they kill him, who would be left to take care of the daughter?” one of the neighbours, who pleaded anonymity, queried.
Another neighbour, who also pleaded not to be named, said he was surprised that Akolade carried out such dastardly act, adding that he never imagined such a thing would happen.
“He liked to socialise sometimes. So, he might have been under the influence of something to have committed such an act. It was unexpected,” the neighbour said.
Another tenant was said to have moved into the Arowolos’ former apartment a few months ago. However, he was not available for comments.
People in the neighbourhood were also not willing to talk about the incident.
It was difficult to convince witnesses to take the stand in the case because of the way society views such cases, said Mr. Nelson Ekoh, lawyer of the deceased’s family.
He said, “Nobody wants to be involved, not knowing that the same thing can happen to someone close to them. In that case, who would come out as witnesses for them?”
Wearied from the emotional toil the case had taken on him, including the media scrutiny on his family during the over two-year trial, Mr. George Oyakhire, the father of the deceased, said he did not want to say anything further than what he had already said about the case. For him and his family, they had borne the pain for too long in the public. It seemed like, after the sentencing, it was a time for them to grieve privately.
A week ago, he told The PUNCH that he would not rejoice over the death penalty handed to his son-in-law. “The Bible says that you should not rejoice at the downfall of your enemy. I feel bad about all this because this was a boy I assisted in every way I could. He even said when giving evidence in court that we were close and this is very true. I assisted him when he needed me and even though he was jobless; my daughter (Titilayo) also helped him.
“I am happy the judge berated Akolade’s parents for telling lies in court. They even claimed that she committed suicide. I am happy that my daughter has been vindicated. I have also been vindicated because I told the whole truth in court. I leave everything to God,” he said while quoting from the scriptures.
The clincher to Akolade’s sentencing was the testimony of the forensic pathologist, Prof. John Obafunwa, who testified that there were at least 76 stab wounds found on the deceased’s body. During the ruling, Justice Lateefat Okunnu said, “All these injuries could not have been self-inflicted. Even if you try to injure yourself to that extent, at a point you would have dropped the knife.”
However, Olanrewaju Ajanaju, Akolade’s lawyer, stated that the defence counsel may explore other options.
He said, “In a matter like this, the court that ruled is a court of first instance. All we need do is look at the judgment very well. If there is going to be any reaction from us, you would get to know. I don’t think there is any need for us to pre-empt whatever we want to do. If we can explore other avenues, why would we neglect to do that? You heard the pronouncement. If you were in my shoes, would you leave it like that?”
Despite the conviction, there is no closure for the Oyakhire family yet as it would take a while before life returns to normal for them, noted Ekoh. “You can never close anything that has to do with murder. For one, they (Akolade and Titilayo) had a child together and seeing that child would always remind one of what the mother went through,” he said.
Ekoh also claimed that the police may have bungled the case were it not for the incontrovertible evidence.
He said, “There were attempts to bungle the investigations at the start. For example, we gave the police Akolade’s three phones that were recovered from the crime scene and asked for the call logs. They couldn’t produce it. We wrote the Ministry of Justice. The photo at the crime scene got to the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions a day to the trial and they were incomplete. At a time, we had to rely on the pictures taken by private photographer I took to the crime scene.
“Also, at the crime scene, two blood stained knives were discovered and a hammer. One of the knives was stuck to the deceased. But when the pathologist called for the killer weapon when they took the corpse to the morgue, they only gave him one knife. But there were two knives involved, one with a regular straight blade, the other with jagged edges, and a hammer. In a report, the pathologist said a blunt object was used.”
However, the Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Police Command, Ngozi Braide, told SUNDAY PUNCH that she could not confirm Ekoh’s claim. She also noted that the investigators that worked on the case in the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, had either retired or been reposted. Braide added that the case had been decided by a high court already.
“It was clear, we investigated, charged him and he was convicted. I don’t want to comment further on this matter. The case has been decided by the court.”
She noted that the sentencing showed that the police was working. “Most times people are not patient with us. But we are always for justice, no matter how long it takes, justice would be done,” she said.
Akolade and Titilayo Arowolo got married in 2008 and the marriage was blessed with a daughter, Olamide. But the marriage was fraught with problems ranging from accusations of alleged infidelity to domestic violence. Titilayo, who was an employee of Skye Bank, Marina, was said to have moved out of her husband’s house on several occasions due to their many disagreements before the fatal incident on June 24, 2011.
That incident has since left two families broken and a five-year-old daughter, Olamide, who would not grow up knowing her biological parents. Oyakhire said Olamide was too young to be told the truth about her parents and that she was doing fine.
He said, “She is just about five years old and cannot be told of what has happened. However, when she is mature and begins to ask questions, we will tell her everything that happened.”
