A middle age man, Kola Ajibola, is in the police custody for allegedly killing his pregnant wife.
The incident happened at Badagry area of Lagos State on June 6 this year during a scuffle between Kola and his wife, Fumilayo, who was said to be five months pregnant before she died.
Family members of the deceased alleged that Kola beat up his pregnant wife and shoved her in the process.
The deceased was alleged to have fallen on a hard object in the apartment and sustained a major injury, which led her to bleed from the nose.
Seeing the harm he has committed, Kola was said to have taken his wife to the clinic but Fumilayo, a mother of one, died shortly after and the case was reported at the Badagry Police Station.
The elder sister of the deceased, who simply identified herself as Monisola, said Kola had molested Fumilayo in the past.
Monisola said: “They have quarrelled in the past and Kola has maltreated his wife.
“Just recently, my late sister reported his behaviour to one of our uncles and Kola was called and warned not to touch her again.
“It is sad that he did not heed the warning as he went on to beat her despite the fact that she is five months pregnant for him.
“She has a seven-year-old son and he is staying with the family since her untimely death.”
Monisola however feared that the case will not be properly investigated by the police as she alleged that officers attached to the Badagry Police Station are frustrating the family’s efforts in getting justice.
She added: “This case was reported to the police at Badagry Police Station and I was surprised when a policeman attached to the station, who identified himself as the DCO (Divisional Crime Officer) called me and said that if we want the case to be transferred to the Homicide Department at Panti Yaba, I should go to Panti and request for the signal so that the case can be transferred.
“Is it my job to ask for police signal before the case can be transferred for thorough investigation?
“We suspect a foul play by the police that they want to release the suspect without conducting investigation.”
When contacted, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Ngozi Braide, said the police will conduct a thorough investigation into the death.
Braide said: “There is no prank here and we are not covering anything.
“The suspect is in the custody of the police and the police officers at Badagry have taken the corpse for a post mortem to be conducted.
“As it is, they are conducting preliminary investigation into the case and as soon as this is done, the case will be transferred to the Homicide Department at Panti Yaba.
“A signal has already been sent to the police headquarters over the incident.
“So there is no prank to release the suspect.”