Update: Police detain alleged wife killer in Panti

         Shonde at the Lagos State police command headquarters, Ikeja, Lagos, Monday. Photo: Precious Igbonwelundu 

The Lagos State Police Commissioner Fatai Owoseni had ordered that alleged wife killer, Lekan Shonde be detained at the homicide unit, State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti-Yaba.

Owoseni gave the order Monday after the Commander Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Tunji Disu, an Assistant Commissioner of Police  (ACP) took the suspect to the command’s headquarters.

Shonde was alleged to have beaten his wife, Ronke Shonde to death on Thursday night, after which he ‘fled’, locking their two kids in the house with the deceased’s corpse on the ground.

The suspect, who has since been hiding, was said to have shuttled Cotonou, Benin Republic, Badagry and Ondo State since Friday.

It was gathered that he was convinced to come back to Lagos from Ondo State on Sunday night, where he had planned to flee the country from.

Shonde, it was gathered cried severally, insisting that he did not kill his late wife.

Although the police shielded Shonde from journalists, his friends, Sunday Nwobi and Gbenga Sholuki, who claimed to have known the suspect for decades, said he has never been a violent person.

They claimed that the suspect loved his wife so much that the family’s income was kept in her custody.

“At the moment he has nothing because even the money he makes was kept in an account the wife has access to. Even the ATM card is with her. Everything was under her. That’s how much he loved her,” they claimed.

According to Nwobi, he has been the suspect’s friend for 33 years, they both attended Ikeja High School, but he was a class ahead of Shonde.

“He has never been violent. I have known him for the past 33 years and I can tell you that he is a gentleman. He was in the same class with my immediate younger brother who has just returned from the United States because of this matter.

“He attended Ikeja High School. I have been in touch with him since the ugly incident and he sent me over 70 messages threatening to commit suicide.

“He told me he had quarrel with his wife on alleged infidelity. He said his wife confessed she has man friend, at her place of work.

“Lekan told me that he caught his wife talking to the man on phone and that she went to Abuja with her lover and they spent five days together.

“As the wife was confessing and begging him, he said he pushed her aside and went into the room to sleep. That he didn’t talk to her nor touch her because he was angry.

“Since he usually left the house early (5am) for work every day and returns around 8pm, he said he left that day as usual and that their eight-year-old son was the one who bolted the door, while he used his own key to lock the gate as usual.

“Lekan told me that he never knew anything has happened to his wife until he was called by his landlady on phone. That his landlady told him his wife had died and that he was a suspect. He said his landlady’s daughter also called him.

“He was on his way to the house but different people called and told him to run because police were in his house and they were looking for him as the suspect. That was why he fled.

“But as soon as he contacted me that same day, I kept telling him to come out. His aged father also told him to turn himself in and allow the law to run its course,” he said.

Similarly, Sholuki, who’s Executive Director, Campaign against Impunity and Domestic Violence said he came out for Shonde because he believed in him.

“Even as we were coming to the police command, he has spoken with his mother-in-law to notify her that he has surrendered. The woman told him that he has done very well for her family and that though they were pained, they have forgiven him and he should not think of suicide again.

“He also called his wife’s lover and told him he hoped he was happy now that he has destroyed his home. The man begged for forgiveness.

“When information came to us about what has happened, we told him to come out for the law to take its course. We have known him for a long time and he is not a violent person.

“We want justice. We are demanding a medical examination to ascertain what really happened. He is a family man. He cherishes his wife and says very pleasant things about her. All we want is justice. If scientific evidence proofs he killed his wife, then, he should go in for it. But what we do not like is his being condemned even before autopsy result comes out,” said Sholuki.

Confirming that the suspect was in police custody, Owoseni said an autopsy will ascertain the cause of death, adding that the police was yet to interrogate Shonde.

“As you can see, he has just been brought in. It is still an allegation and the police is not the court of law to pronounce anyone guilty or otherwise.

“He has turned himself in. I confirm he is in our custody. We will ensure we get to the root of the matter.

He shall be interrogated and investigation is ongoing. We cannot say for sure what happened but autopsy report will prove cause of death,” he said.