Lagos Baale Crushes Wife To Death With Jeep

Afeez Hanafi
A traditional ruler in Ise Town , Ibeju Lekki,
Lagos State, Taibu Ogunbanjo , is currently
cooling his heels in police custody for allegedly
crushing his wife to death .
The baale runs a block -moulding factory at Folu
, a community in Ibeju Lekki.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Taibu and his wife ,
Rotimi Ogunbanjo , got married three years ago,
but the marriage had been fraught with
misunderstanding and fights .
On Thursday , December 7 , 2017 , the couple
reportedly had a disagreement . After the
altercation, Rotimi was said to have gone to the
baale ' s factory and damaged some blocks on
the premises .
Taibu reportedly entered his Toyota Highlander ,
and was driving out of the premises in anger
when he knocked down his wife .
A community leader, who identified himself
simply as Akinsipe, said the wife died on the
spot, adding that the corpse had been
deposited at the Epe General Hospital.
He said , " He (Taibu ) is the baale of the
community. He and his wife had been having
issues since they got married . I did not know
what actually happened between them on that
day, but I learnt that they had a disagreement
in the morning .
" She went to his block factory and destroyed
some blocks arranged on the premises . He
entered his vehicle angrily and as he was driving
out of the premises , the wife tried to stop him .
He hit her and she died on the spot. "
Akinsipe stated that the matter was reported at
the Akodo Police Station , adding that the baale
had been arrested.
A police source told our correspondent that the
suspect' s family reported at the police station
that the death resulted from an accident .
The source said , " The baale and the woman
got married three years ago without a child and
they had been having disagreements . On that
particular day, she destroyed some blocks at the
industry . The man became angry and as he was
driving out, he crushed her with his vehicle on
the factory premises .
" The relations of the suspect have said that it
was a case of an accident . But looking at the
circumstances surrounding the incident , the
accident claim is untenable.
" He could not have lost control of the vehicle
on the premises as a result of speeding. There
is a limit to the speed the car can go on the
premises . "
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer ,
SP Chike Oti , who confirmed Rotimi' s death ,
said the command would investigate the matter
to unravel the motive behind the
baale ' s action.
He said , "We are investigating the matter to
find out what transpired between the man and
his wife before the incident happened . They
were having family issues , which led the
woman to the block industry to destroy things.
" We want to know whether what the man did
was a reaction to what his wife did . We believe
there is more to the ' accident' than meets the
eye because there was an altercation between
them before the incident occured. "
The PPRO added that the case had been
transferred to the Homicide Section of the State
Criminal Investigation and Intelligence
Department , Yaba .