29-year-old businessman, Oluchi Ajimowu, has been arrested by the State Department for Criminal Investigation, Yaba, Lagos, for his alleged involvement in the death of his wife, 23 year old Priscillia Ajimowu. The couple lived with their children in Festac, Lagos before the wife's demise.
The police think that Ajimowu either slammed his wife’s head on the floor, or the mother of two poisoned herself due to frustrations in her marriage.
Ajimowu claims that he had locked his wife in her room on November 29, seized her phone and went out with their two children, after they arrived from their outing, he reportedly met his wife foaming in the mouth.
His wife who was a nurse had asked to be taken to the hospital, but he allegedly refused, instead he gave her palm oil and recorded her with his phone for about 40 minutes until she died.
It was gathered that prior to her death, Ajimowu had battered and subjected the deceased to inhuman treatment throughout the four years they spent in South Africa.
They decided to relocate to Nigeria. Ajimowu arrived four months ago while the wife arrived on November 27, two days before her death.
It was gathered that Ajimowu had put their house for sale shortly after the wife’s death.
The couple’s oldest child, seven-year-old Ella, said that there was a pesticide and a drink in the room where her mother was on the fateful day, adding that her father was “not nice to my mother” while they were in South Africa.
She said:
“Dad used to shout at mummy and beat her and she would be crying. That day we left her alone in the house. Daddy took the keys and mummy’s phone and locked mummy inside.
“When we came back home, daddy parked outside, locked us inside the car and went inside. After that, he called us to ‘come, come and see your mummy on the floor’. Mummy was saying, ‘Take me to hospital, I’m tired’. He started videoing her. He gave her red oil, but she spat it out. Her body was cold.”
The deceased’s mother, Mrs. Stella Ayobo, said her daughter had planned to visit her on the fateful day, but had cancelled the visit.
She added that Priscillia had not been happy throughout her 7 year marriage to Ajimowu . She added that Oluchi had shortly after his wife’s death reported at the Aguda Police Division, saying a friend took poison and died in his house.
She said:
“Four years ago, they went to South Africa. She always called me to report how Oluchi maltreated her.
“She came back to Nigeria on November 27. She visited me on November 28 and promised to visit me again the following day, being a Sunday. But that day, around 8am, she called me that she would not be able to come again and promised to come with her children on Friday.
“Around 8pm that Sunday, her husband called me that she had been vomiting since morning and I told him to take her to the nearest hospital. He later called me and said it was a poison she took. I told him to bring her. By the time he brought her, she was dead. We took her to a hospital and the doctor said she had died.
“He went to the Aguda Police Station to report that a girl visited him from South Africa, took poison and died in his house.”
The mother urged the police to investigate the matter in order to give justice to the family.
Priscillia’s older sister, Mrs. Emenike Dorcas, said Ajimowu had convinced her sister to come to Nigeria under the pretext that he would open a chemist’s shop for her.
She added:
“I reported the incident to the police at Satellite Town and Aguda divisions. Policemen at Aguda were surprised when they eventually knew the truth of the matter,”.
Priscilla’s uncle, Francis Ayobo, said the suspect was not remorseful after his wife’s death.
He said:
“It is so surprising that the wife was dying and the husband started videoing her. The videos were more than 40 minutes. He sent it to Priscillia’s sister in South Africa. By that time he would have rushed her to a hospital for treatment.
“I noticed that about three other guys were in the background of one of the video because somebody was giving her water and she was foaming in the mouth. Those things should be questioned. He was handed over to SDCI on Wednesday.”
The Lagos State Police spokesperson, DSP Joe Offor, said the Aguda Police Station arrested the husband and have handed him over to the Satellite Town Police Division.
