Wife killer Akolade Arowolo found guilty of murder, sentenced to death

Arowolo Akolade, the man who stabbed his banker wife to death on Friday June 24, 2011 after a domestic dispute at their home in Isolo, Lagos (read the story below), has been found guilty of her murder and has been sentenced to death.

Akolade appeared before trial judge Justice Lateefat Okunnu of the Ikeja High Court this morning Friday Feb. 21 and was found guilty on one-count of murder. The judge said the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that he killed his wife.

"I pronounce the defendant guilty and accordingly sentenced to death,” Justice Okunnu pronounced. Akolade burst into tears after the verdict was read.

Akolade and Titilayo had been married for only two years and had a young daughter when he brutally attacked her with a knife on his birthday after they argued. Arolowo claimed in court that Titi had attacked him with the knife and eventually turned the knife on herself. The court didn't buy his story.


Explaining what happened on June 24th 2011, Kolade said he and his wife had sex on that day. He said they'd agreed to stay indoors throughout the day since it was his birthday, adding that he, however, went out to withdraw money which they would use in celebrating his birthday. Continue..

 He said on returning home, an argument ensued, causing his wife to slap him. He said, “On June 24, 2011, after we had sex, we made some commitments one of which included that she (Titilayo) would no longer be running off to her parents’ home whenever we fought and we decided that we would do everything possible to make the marriage work. We decided that we would stay indoors till evening.

“I went out around 10am to withdraw money from the bank and I bought some items. On the way, I picked up my mechanic because he needed to repair my car. On getting home, about an hour later, the security guard and the mechanic helped me to take the items to my apartment and he (mechanic) drove the car away.

"On getting home, I realised my wife was completely dressed and she said she was going out. As I pleaded with her, she started shouting, saying that Aunty Toun (Stepmother) and Aunty Labisi told her to leave the house. She was very angry and she slapped me.”

Akolade said he ran to the house of his next door neighbour and told his neighbour’s mother, Mrs. Hannah Alaka, to intervene.

He said Mrs. Alaka called Titilayo and spoke to her by the corridor leading to the staircase and convinced her not to go out.

Akolade said he and his wife returned into their apartment and he proceeded to fuel the generator when he received a phone call from his sister-in-law, Folake Oyakhire.

He said he and Folake shared the same birthday.

Akolade said, “After speaking with Folake, she asked to speak with her sister so I started looking for my wife all over the place. I called out her name but she did not answer. On getting to the entrance to our room, I slipped and almost fell. As I attempted to hand over the phone to my wife, she stabbed me in the arm with a kitchen knife.

“She stabbed me again this time on the left side of my chest. I tried to wrest the knife from her and she started screaming, ‘I will kill you and kill myself.’ In the struggle, she stabbed me in the navel.

“Later. I asked my wife why she did this and she started apologising. I then decided to get help for her but I could not find the key to the main door to the house.”

Akolade said he scattered the wardrobe, where his wife said she had kept the keys but still could not find them.

He said, “After attempting to force open the door of the house with no success, I decided to jump from the balcony and I met the security guard and mechanic there. I jumped into my car and drove towards the Aswani Police Division.

“On my way to the station, I met some traffic policemen and I explained to them that my wife needed help. They were telling me to take care of myself first since I was covered in blood. While I was still explaining to them, an oncoming vehicle knocked me over and I fell unconscious.

"When I regained consciousness, I found myself in a strange environment and was told that it was a Good Samaritan that had rescued me. I later made a telephone call to my mother. It was the person who picked up the phone that told me that my wife was dead.”

While being cross-examined by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mrs. Olabisi Ogungbesan, Akolade told the court that his wife was alive the last time he saw her.

He said he sustained more injuries than her and even debunked the report of the pathologist, Prof. John Obafunwa, who had asserted in his testimony that Titilayo was stabbed 76 times, saying it was not possible for a human being to inflict such wounds on oneself.

Ogungbesan, who debunked Akolade’s testimony, said, “Akolade, why did you not inform the mechanic, neighbours or even your security guard that your wife was bleeding  instead of going to the police station? Why did you not use your mobile phone to call for help?

“If you did not stab your wife to death; then who did? You said your wife was mentally unstable, are you a certified psychiatrist? Since it has been established that you were the last person to see her alive I put it to you that you stabbed your wife to death.”

Akolade answered that his wife had taken alcohol that morning.

He said, “If you had seen her that day, she was even more powerful than me. She overpowered me. I was not thinking clearly that day. That was why I ran straight to the police station without telling neighbours. It was possible that she stabbed herself to death but it was not 76 times.”

Justice Lateefa Okunnu, adjourned the matter till September 17, 2013, for the final address of counsel. (Punch)