Police in Lagos state has arrested a 23-year-old woman who allegedly stabbed her neighbour to death because she called her “Shaku Shaku” woman.
The woman, a hairdresser identified as Opeyemi Adamson was reported by the deceased, Taiwo Olowookere, 28, prior to her death.
As stated by Punch, the deceased died at a hospital in the area.
It was gathered that the deceased was living with Opeyemi’s mother-in-law who accommodated her because she had a dispute with her husband.
In her statement filed at Meiran police station, Taiwo said, “About three months ago, I had a problem with my husband. The woman I was staying with was her (Opeyemi) mother-in-law.
“On a particular day, my child was ill and I took him to a hospital. When I returned, I greeted her, but she refused to respond. That was when our misunderstanding started.
“Around 7am on August 24, I went to bath my child. While doing that, her child started making a noise. I called her that her child was disturbing me, but she abused me.
“She started cursing me and I called her shaku-shaku woman. She asked why I would call her such a name. She said she would show me what a shaku-shaku woman was like. She went inside and brought out a knife which she used to stab me in the neck.”
Punch learnt that Opeyemi was arrested after Taiwo reported the case.
Meanwhile Opeyemi told the court that she acted out of self defense when the woman hurled abuses at her.
As stated by her, Taiwo’s husband battered her frequently, so her mother-in-law took her in to accommodate her. But, when she arrived, she was always cursing her and indicating that she was jealous of her happy marital home.
She said, “When she arrived at our house, she was always cursing me. She always said I was happy because I had a good husband, while she had no good matrimonial home and that she would deal with me.
The knife belonged to her; I stabbed her in self-defence. Her husband was buying her all sorts of things while she was in the hospital. When she died, her husband came to dump her corpse in our house and fled.”
Husband to the deceased, Solomon Olowookere said he had a misunderstanding with his wife over her attitude and she moved in with a co-trader.
He said, A SARS officer intervened and he signed an undertaking never to lay his hands on his wife. Solomon said after the undertaking, he asked his wife to return home with him but she said she would join him later.
He said, “My wife could be abusive, but she would never fight anyone. The woman that stabbed her is a cult member. She started having issues with my wife after my wife stopped giving her money for safekeeping.
“I was at work late at night when I was called that my wife had been stabbed. It was the following day that I got there. She was taken to a local medical centre where her injuries festered and her neck became swollen. We were asked to conduct an X-ray for her. I was taking her to a general hospital when she gave up the ghost.”
The accused was arraigned for murder at a Magistrate Court.
Chief Magistrate O.O Olatunji remanded her in prison and adjourned the case to October 3, 2018.
It was learnt that the defence hopes to change the charges to manslaughter.