A 43-year-old man, Taiwo Adio, has
clubbed his wife, Yemisi, and three other persons to death with a pestle
in Sokoto, Sokoto State.
Adio on Saturday night at the Old
Airport area of the Sokoto metropolis also reportedly killed Rachael
Adewole, 42, Benice Adewole, 10, and Esther Badelu, 14.
Rachael, until her death, was the wife
of Pastor Jacob Adewole, of Faith Baptist Church (Sanctuary of Mercy and
Glory), Old Airport Road, Sokoto. Ten-year old Benice Adewole was their
only daughter while Esther Badelu, was Benice’s friend.
The Sokoto Police Command Public
Relations Officer, El-Mustapha Sani, who also confirmed the incident,
said the suspect had been arrested and the exhibit, a pestle, recovered.
Sani said the case was under investigation at the state Criminal Investigation Department.
The corpses of the victims, however, had
been deposited at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital,
Sokoto, for post mortem.
When our correspondent visited the church on Sunday morning, the premise was under lock, as there was no Sunday worship service.
A church member, Oyeleke Samson, narrated that he survived the suspect’s onslaught by a whisker.
According to Samson, “The suspect
mysteriously disappeared from home for two days and on his sudden
return, he started behaving in a strange manner, talking incoherently.
“When the news of his return got to the
church, the elated pastor’s wife, the late Rachael, prepared food and
told her daughter Benice, to take the food to Taiwo Adio’s house. There,
Esther Badelu decided to accompany her friend.
“Before they arrived at the place, Adio,
a bricklayer had clubbed the wife, Yemisi, an auxiliary nurse, to
death. When the two girls entered the house, he killed them with the
pestle in his hand.
“When the two girls did not return home
after a while, late Rachael decided to trace the girls to the suspect’s
house, not knowing that death was lurking. When she opened the door, the
suspect raised the pestle, as she turned to take to her heels, the
suspect hit her on the back, she fell and she was clubbed to death.
“On instinct, I decided to go to the
Mission House. I mounted my motorcycle, only for me to see the suspect
in a corner, it was the screech from my motorcycle that scared him as he
attempted to attack me. The only words I heard from him were, ‘You
people cannot poison me.
“I was left bewildered that why should
he think anybody wanted to kill him. I ate out of the food at the
mission house; moreover, he killed his wife before the two girls arrived
with the food. I am still in shock.”
