Akolade Arowolo’s Alleged Murder Saga: The Unanswered Questions!

The story of Akolade Arowolo, the man who allegedly stabbed his banker wife, Titilayo to death has generated a lot of comments lately. Akolade allegedly murdered his wife in their Number 8, Oladehinde Street, Isolo on the 24th June, 2011.

A new twist however emerged in the case when the suspect was paraded by the police recently. He claimed that contrary to what most people might have chosen to believe, his wife attempted to kill him on that fateful day. He also attributed his wife’s death to “spiritual wickedness” in high places.

Speaking when he was paraded by the police, he said “ if I tell you that I can fully grasp what happened that day then I will be lying, but that day my wife was not the Titi I knew, she was possessed by a demon, she became stronger and wild and she stabbed me on my left hand, before I could stop her, she went on to stab me in the stomach, and all over my chest and when I tried to wrestle the knife from her I ended up being slashed on my right palm; as I was trying to get help, my wife had gone on to stab herself several times; unfortunately, she is dead and cannot talk about the incident.”

Shedding a light on how he met the deceased, Akolade disclosed that “Titi and I were just friends back in the university, I am a born again Christian and I have a calling to be a pastor, I am a staunch member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Christ Parish, Gbagada, but my marriage has been hell.

Kolade Arowolo at the police station.

First of all, I was dating a lady and we were planning to get married, but my wife then was just a friend and she confessed that she loved me, one thing led to the other and I ended up having premarital sex with her, she came back a few months to say that she was pregnant and she could not abort the pregnancy and her family said I must marry her, so that was how I ended up marrying her because of the pregnancy,”

In an attempt to explain what transpired and how his wife eventually died, the suspect said the incident happened on his birthday, he also said “she was on leave, she told me that we should celebrate it but I said we should have a low key birthday, just three of us, my wife started quarreling saying that she was tired of the marriage, that one of her aunties called Aunty Olabisi is pressurising her to leave me; I started begging her not to leave me that day but she insisted she must leave that day; I even called a neighbour, an elderly woman to beg her; after a lot of persuasion, she went into the bedroom and as I was entering the room to see her, she jumped on me with a knife and stabbed me on the left hand, I shouted saying ‘what is the meaning of this?’ She told me that since I didn’t want her to leave, she would kill me and kill herself.

The deceased (Titi), Kolade's wife.

I pushed her to the bed trying to wrestle the knife from her and she came back on me stronger like one possessed with a demon, she stabbed me in my stomach and slashed my wrist, she went on to stab me all over my chest before killing herself. Unknown to me, my wife had locked all the doors, and I had to jump from the building to get help, I was the one who reported the incident to the police at Ejigbo, I didn’t run away as speculated. I loved my wife, the truth is that my wife and I quarrelled a lot and the marriage was hell, I would have divorced her but the Bible passage that says that God hates divorce kept stopping me and I also thought of my daughter; if I had known, I would have divorced her a long time ago, maybe I would not be in this mess today, my advice to young men is that they should hold on to God, they should not allow any lady or family pressure to lure them into a marriage with pregnancy and they should divorce their wives if they have irreconcilable differences in their marriages and then ask God for forgiveness; it is better that way than ending in this mess as I am, I have learnt my lessons the hard way and I know God will vindicate me, because I did not kill my wife.

Akolade’s statement has generated more questions than answers. It is a direct opposite of that of Nelson Ekoh the spokesman of the deceased’s family who also doubles as their lawyer. The lawyer disclosed that a visit to the scene of the crime showed that the deceased had over twenty knife wounds on the head as well as several stab wounds on her body. Two knives and a hammer were also seen at the scene.

Picture if Titi witheyes almost gourged out.

Most of those questioning the “suicide story” told by the suspect have opined that it is hardly possible for a woman attempting suicide to inflict as many as twenty knife wounds on herself, attempt to gouge out her own eyes and still muster enough strength to inflict a stab on herself to the point that the knife blade allegedly got broken inside her.

Some have also wondered if the internal organ claimed to have been found at the scene was removed by the deceased. Other questions being asked include “how come there were two knives if the deceased jumped on her husband with a knife? Did the accused person call any neighbour before going to the police to report as he claimed?”

Investigations have also revealed that while she was alive, Titilayo had been abused severally by her husband. Apart from her colleagues at work who disclosed that the deceased often came to work with bruises, Akolade’s father disclosed to newsmen after his son’s arraignment that the suspect beat his wife often and he has had to settle many of their quarrels. “I have not seen Akolade and Titilayo since January. I decided to stop intervening because I was tired of settling their disputes’ Akolade’s father said. The deceased’s family also confirmed that they helped them to settle a quarrel a few weeks before the incident.

The deceased neck,apparently slashed.

The suspect’s claim about being a Pastor and a “staunch member” of the Redeemed Christian Church of God has also been questioned in some quarters, especially with the statement advising people to get a divorce if they can no longer cope with their spouses. Soughting to find out what the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God would be and we were referred to the July 18 portion of the “Open Heavens, Volume Eleven 2011” a daily devotional guide authored by Pastor E.A Adeboye. The portion which had had a reference from Revelation 2:12-17 reads in part “In His letter to the church at Pergamos, Jesus was saying that there were people there who taught the satanic philosophy that says once saved, forever saved. Meaning once you have been saved, you were free to do whatever you liked. This error was turning God’s people into victims and prodding them towards God’s judgment. Ironically, the bearers of this error called themselves the righteousness of God in Christ, and believed they could take excuse from the Lord to commit adultery, provided they returned later to ask for forgiveness. Anyone that tells you that you are free to live as you like is ensnaring you. It does not matter whether it is a fellow minister or member of your church. Whenever you are being asked to violate God’s law, know that your soul is the main target.”

A church member who conferred with yours truly on the condition of anonymity opined that “Bro. Kolade must have missed it from the outset and he did not retrace his steps. Though temptations do arise but as Christians, we should know that God does not allow us to be tempted above that which we can bear”. Quoting from I Corinthians 10: 13, the member disclosed that “God provides a way of escape in every temptation. ” The member also spoke on the advice given by the suspect about divorce and asking for forgiveness, “he is probably talking personally, and obviously he is not talking for the church.”

It is already being said that if the police wants to conduct a thorough investigation, a forensic analysis of the materials found at the scene of the crime might be necessary.

source: Babajide Oyinwonuola Munis