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The police in Lagos have arrested a 33-year-old woman, Biola Gbadamosi, for allegedly murdering her husband, Jamiu, in the Ikorodu area of the state.According to the police, the suspect, who is a nursing mother, stabbed her husband with a knife during an argument over rice.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the suspect and her husband, who is a Vehicle Inspection Officer, had a history of domestic violence prior to the incident.Biola, who spoke to our correspondent while fighting back tears, said she had no intention of killing her husband, adding that she only stabbed him once on the thigh.She said,

 “Jamiu and I dated for four years, but when I got pregnant this year, we did introduction and I started living with him in Idi Iroko, Ikorodu. However, when I was three months pregnant, he started beating me.“Most times, he takes alcoholic drink and he comes back home drunk and starts beating me for flimsy reasons. He even had a kidney ailment.“One day, he came home drunk, accused me of infidelity and started beating me. He said he had been told that I was going to poison his food, but I continued to endure. I, however, reported the beatings to his mother and siblings.”

The suspect said after being delivered of a baby in August, she usually went to her family’s house in Somolu from where she would take her baby for post-natal.She said on September 7, 2013, she returned home with her baby only to have a fight with her husband hours later.She said,

 “While I was about leaving my parents’ home, my husband called to say that he was broke and I should make money available for the weekend. When I got home, I started cooking fried rice but my husband, who was drunk, said he did not like it. I jokingly called him a bush man and an argument  ensued.“While we were arguing, a neighbour, who sells drinks, came into our flat to collect money that we owed her. I was grating carrots with a knife when my husband slapped me and said I must leave his house that night.“I used the knife I was holding to strike him on the thigh and he started bleeding profusely. The neigbours and I took him to a hospital. At the hospital, I was told that my husband’s injury was not deep, so neighbours said I should take my baby home.”

The suspect told PUNCH Metro that the next morning the landlord informed her that her husband died at midnight.“The matter was reported at the Owutu Police Division and I was arrested,” she said.

The suspect, who claimed to be an Ordinary National Diploma degree holder from Ibadan Polytechnic, insisted that her husband’s killing was not deliberate.While pleading with the police to show her mercy, she said,

“My little baby, Oluwaseyifunmi, is with my husband’s family and I fear that my child will never get to know me if I am sent to prison. My breasts are still filled with milk and no baby to suckle them.”

When our correspondent visited the scene of the incident, the landlord, Theophilus Kalejaiye, said the couple had a history of violence.Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent on the telephone, said the matter had been transferred to the State  Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba for further investigation.

Culled from Punch