The incident occurred
at about 5pm last Wednesday in the Ikota Housing Estate, Ikota Second Gate
area.
Punch’s correspondent
gathered that Rose, who was reportedly preparing for her wedding, had returned
from work in the afternoon, and noticed a foul smell on the clothes spread on
her door.
It was learnt that the
deceased went to the landlady, Alhaja Iyabo Hamzat, to report the matter. The
landlady was said to have pacified her, offering to give her the money to buy
some detergent to wash the clothes.
It was gathered that
after some minutes, other neighbours, however, heard Rose’s sudden cry for help
in the corridor. The suspect was said to have been found holding the deceased
by the neck, with a bloodstained kitchen knife in her hand.
Punch gathered that
Rose died before she could be rushed to a nearby hospital.
The matter was said to
have been reported to the Ajah Police Division, Ajiwe, and Okeke was arrested.
When Punch visited the apartment on Friday,
Alhaja Hamzat said she had served a notice to Okeke, commonly known as Mama
Chinedu, on several occasions to pack out of the house, adding that the suspect
refused to leave.
She said, “At about 5pm
that day, Rose came to my apartment. She said she came to report Iya Chinedu.
“She said when she
returned from her workplace, she found her curtain, towel and other clothes
drenched with urine. She said she suspected that it was Iya Chinedu who poured
the substance on her clothes.
“I begged Rose and told
her that I would give her money to buy detergent to wash the clothes. She had
hardly returned to her room when we heard screams of ‘help help!’ We all rushed
there and we saw Rose in a pool of blood with Iya Chinedu holding a
bloodstained knife.
“With shock, we rushed
Rose to a hospital, but she died on the way.
“Iya Chinedu moved into
my house just last year. She moved in with her son. The son later left, saying
she was fed up with her mother. I had served her quit notices on several
occasions, but she refused to move out.
“I went to the police
at Ikota to report her, but the policemen there said they would not meddle in
landlord-tenants’ affairs.”
Another resident, who
spoke on condition of anonymity, told Punch
that Okeke had been moody before
that day.
Another resident in the
area, identified only as Blessing, said after Okeke had stabbed her neighbour,
some angry youths beat her up.
She said, “Mama Chinedu
did not show any remorse at all. Some boys became angry and beat her up.
“Everyone was shocked,
and wanted to find out what offence was committed that made Okeke to stab the
young lady.”
The Police Public
Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the incident.
He added that the
matter would be transferred to the State Department of Criminal Investigation,
Yaba, for further investigation.
He said, “The police
visited the scene and removed the corpse to a public morgue in Yaba.
“The suspect has also
been arrested. She will be transferred to the SDCI after the police have
concluded their preliminary investigations.”
- Punch
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