Doctors at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, are still battling to save the life of Akolade Arowolo, the man who allegedly murdered his banker wife. The suspect attempted suicide at the Ikoyi Prison where he was being remanded pending the outcome of the autopsy report on his wife, Titilayo.
Daily Sun reliably gathered that last week, Arowolo allegedly paid someone who smuggled in a poisonous substance which he ingested to terminate his life. Some prison warders who confided in Daily Sun said the suspect had made several failed attempts to kill himself.
When Daily Sun visited LUTH, the doctor on duty declined comment on whether Arowolo was in the hospital or not.
However, a medical staff who pleaded anonymity said: “Yes, Arowolo, the man who killed his wife, was rushed here last week. The test conducted on him showed that he ingested a poison. The substance is of high acidic content. As I am talking to you, the man has undergone surgery. His stomach cannot retain solid food. We have to pass a tube through the stomach, so that he can eat.”
When contacted for comment, the Public Relations Officer, Nigerian Prison Service, Lagos Command, Mr. Chuks Njoku, denied that Arowolo attempted suicide but was only allergic to something he took.
Njoku said Arowolo was reacting to something he took “but I was with him some days ago and he is responding to treatment.”
He said the way the prison is run, it was impossible for someone, whether inmate or visitor, to smuggle things inside the prison. “Because we search them thoroughly before entering or leaving the prison.”
Meanwhile, the court, last Friday, has adjourned the case till October 26 as the magistrate, Mrs. Demi Ajayi, said she was waiting for the Directorate for Public Prosecution (DPP) for advice. Addressing newsmen after the adjournment, counsel to the complainant, Mr. Nelson Ekoh, said the DPP was not able to offer advice as it was waiting for the autopsy report from LUTH.
He said the professor handling the autopsy was doing it painstakingly to avoid any error. On his own, counsel to the defendant, Mr. Olanrewaju Ajanaku, berated the slow pace at which the case was being handled, adding that it might give room for manipulation. He said, “if a person is alleged to have died in June and the remains have been deposited at the hospital since then, I’m surprised that the report is just getting ready.
“It is this delay that has handicapped the DPP, preventing it from giving advice to the court.”
He confirmed that Akolade was absent in court because he was very ill and was receiving treatment in hospital.
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