A young man from Imo state accused of killing a cowhide aka Pomo seller, Tope Owoade in Ogun state recently has given his own side of what led to the death of the trader.
The state police command had arrested one Micheal who was accused of killing her neighbour when an altercation ensued between the two of them.
Owoade husband, Isiaka Owoade had alleged that the accused inflicted an injury on his wife during the quarrel which later led to her death.
The husband alleged that the beating led to serious bleeding to her womb, which caused her to be rushed to the hospital, and her death the day after she was rejected by the doctors at the health centre.
Narrating his own side of the story, Micheal said he did not kill the woman, explaining that they only had a confrontation the day before the trader died.
According to him, he and the late Owoade had exchanged words over the table that the deceased used for selling Pomo, stressing that he never touched the woman and was even pleading with her when she was angry that he sat on the table she was using to sell Pomo.
The suspect told the Tribune during an interview that he had left Imo state last year to join his father who sells used children clothes in Ogijo, a surburb of the state last year.
He explained that he joined his father in the business in other to gather money to further his education.
Before the unfortunate incident happened, he said the deceased usually warned her neigbours not to sit on the table she used for selling Pomo.
On that fateful day, he explained, the deceased had got angry after she met him sitting on the same table, saying in her anger she tried to beat him, but suddenly collapsed.
He did not touch her, Micheal stated.
Micheal’s story: “The deceased used to warn us not sit on the table she was using to sell ponmo, saying that if it’s broken, the person responsible for it would repair it. On March 28, I left my father at the market and came home at about 8 p.m. I went to sit on the woman’s wares table to await my father’s return.
“As I sat, a securityman came to join me and sat beside me on the table. The woman had entered her her room in the house we were living. I removed my shirt and singlet to enjoy the breeze while the securityman and I were discussing.
“Suddenly, I got a stinging slap on my back. I didn’t know that the woman was coming from behind. I turned to her and asked why she slapped me, and she replied that she already told us not to sit on the table again.
“The security man and I started begging her but she remained very angry. As she launched at me, aiming to beat me the more, I deftly moved aside to avoid her and she fell.
“At that time, my father got home from market, and when he saw what was happening, he dropped the load he was carrying. The woman got up from where she fell, took a stick and wanted to hit me with it, but it landed on the head of my father who was trying to appease her.
“She started cursing us, saying that if she wanted to cause trouble for me, she would just remain where she fell. The night went on like that until we all went to our apartments.
“I was surprised when I came back on Friday night, on March 29, and the landlord came to me, saying that the woman was bleeding. He told me that the woman called a nurse and had bought medications recommended to her.
“My father was late in coming back from the market that day, and when he came, I explained to him what I was told by the landlord. Later, we learnt that the woman fainted. She was taken to hospital where she was rejected. She was said to have died when efforts were being made to take her to another place. My father and I did not run away. We were later arrested by police.”
Michael was arrested by detectives form the state police command after the deceased husband reported the case at the Ogijo Divisional police station.
The accused is likely to be charged to court soon.
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