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Miss Folake Oyahire, sister of allegedly murdered banker, Mrs Titilayo Arowolo, on Wednesday said that her sister's husband, Akolade Arowolo, had previously demonstrated traits of violence before her sister’s death.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Oyahire was testifying at the trial of Akolade , who is alleged to have murdered Titilayo.
The accused is being tried by Justice Lateefat Okunnu of an Ikeja High Court.
Akolade,30, was docked for allegedly stabbing Titilayo to death on June, 24, 2011, at their residence located at 8, Akindehinde St., Isolo.
The witness, who was led in evidence by the Director of Public Prosecution, Mrs Olabisi Ogungbesan, said that she had at a time seen a wound on her late sister's face.
Folake said: “My sister, Titilayo, had invited me over to her family friend's house, where she was visiting with her husband.”When I saw her that day, every part of her face was swollen and her eyes were bloodshot.
“She told me she had gotten the injury when she and Akolade had gone out the night before.
“Titilayo told me the defendant had kept on blowing (hitting) her in the face while she was carrying her baby in her arms.”
Folake, who is a student at the Nigeria Law School, Abuja, reiterated what the step mother of the deceased, Adetoun Oyahire and her sister, Aidehi Oyahire had said in their testimonies before the court at previous sittings.
She claimed that on June 24, 2011, Aidehi had received a call from their father who was away in Kano, that Titilayo had sounded apprehensive and panicky and they should go and visit her.
“It was raining that day and we could not leave the house so I called her numbers– Starcomms and MTN.
“At first, someone picked the Starcomms but nobody would say anything, it was silent on the other end.
“Eventually, her husband picked the call and when I asked about Titilayo, he told me they had some minor issues but they had been resolved.
“I asked to speak with my sister and the defendant told me to hold on for two minutes that he would give the phone to her. But the phone went silent and I called back several times and nobody picked when it rang,” she said.
?Folake said that when she got to the scene of the alleged murder on June 25, 2011 and got to the bedroom of the deceased, she saw Titilayo's dead body on the bed.
“I noticed the door had been forced open when I got to my sister's house that day after I received a call from Aidehi to come to Titilayo's house.I went straight to the bedroom where I saw the body of the deceased on the bed.
“I saw? a knife sticking in her neck, blood on the bed and one of her eyes was dangling from its socket.
“There was also a big wound on the left side of her chest. I couldn't stand the sight, I was feeling dizzy. I went back downstairs and stayed there till the police arrived to take the corpse to the mortuary,” she said.
The landlord? of the Akolade's residence (name withheld)? also testified at the resumed hearing.
He told the court while being led in evidence by Odugbesan, that he received a call from another of his tenants named Douglas, who shared the same floor with Akolade.
He said Douglas had called him on June 25, 2011, that there was an incident that required his immediate attention.
The landlord told the court that when he got to the defendant's house, he was told by a tenant that Akolade had been seen jumping from the balcony.
He said: “I was told that he was seen going out of the compound and had not been seen since then and the door to his apartment remained locked.
“They told me they had gone to the Aswani Police Station to make a report and said that they had seen Akolade wounded.”
NAN reports that the trial was adjourned to May 2 for the prosecution to bring in more witnesses. (NAN)