A wife, Sarah Ayinde, is on the run after setting her husband, a special constable with the Ogun State Police Command, Abidemi Ayinde, ablaze in the Iperu area of the state.

PUNCH Metro gathered from a source who pleaded anonymity that the incident occurred on December 12 after the couple had engaged in a minor dispute.

The source disclosed to our correspondent on Sunday that the dispute escalated, and the wife resorted to setting the cop ablaze in a retaliatory attempt.

The Source said, “There is an incident in Iperu. A police constabulary was set on fire by his wife. They argued, and the wife set him on fire. He is currently hospitalised.”

Confirming the incident in a telephone conversation with our correspondent, the spokesperson for the state Police Command, Omolola Odutola, told PUNCH Metro on Sunday that the victim was hospitalised following the incident.

She narrated that efforts were underway to apprehend the wife.

“On December 12, 2024, at approximately 10:00 a.m., an attempted murder incident occurred in Iperu. Reports indicate that at No. 20 Igboore Street, Abidemi Ayinde, a male special constable with the police division, was set on fire by his wife, Sarah Ayinde, following a minor dispute.

“The victim was quickly taken to the Bolawatife Hospital for medical attention and is currently in a stable condition.

“The suspect, Sarah Ayinde, remains at large, and efforts are underway to apprehend her. The division’s crime branch is conducting further investigations into the matter,” Odutola said.

PUNCH Metro reported a similar incident in October 2019, when a policeman attached to the Highway Patrol Team of the Lagos State Police Command committed suicide after shooting his wife dead at the prison barracks on Awolowo Road in the Ikoyi area of Lagos State.

Our correspondent gathered at the time that a fight broke out between the couple which led the policeman to shoot his wife dead with his gun.

After shooting his wife, it was learnt that the cop also shot himself dead.

PUNCH Metro correspondent who visited the area at the time of the incident gathered that the policeman and his wife were arguing about their marriage when the tragedy occurred.

Credit: PUNCH

Segun Olowookere, sentenced to death in Osun State for allegedly stealing fowls as a teenager, has shared his account of the events that led to his conviction.

Arrested in November 2010 at the age of 17 alongside Sunday Morakinyo, Olowookere was accused of robbing a policeman, Tope Balogun, of two fowls and eggs in Oyan, Odo-Otin Local Government Area.

The pair was arraigned on January 30, 2013, before Justice Jide Falola of the Osun State High Court in Ikirun.

The charges included robbery, conspiracy, and theft. Prosecutors alleged that they had also conspired to rob Oguntade Faramade of items worth N20,000, stolen two mobile phones from Balogun Taye, and attempted to rob Alhaja Umani Oyewo in her home. They were further accused of using weapons, including a cutlass and a Dane gun, to rob Elizabeth Dare of vegetable oil.

Despite his pleas of innocence, his ordeal worsened due to his family’s inability to raise the N30,000 bail demanded by the police.

While both men pleaded not guilty, the prosecution presented six witnesses, including alleged victims and police officers, who testified against them.

A confessional statement purportedly made by Olowookere to the police was pivotal to the case, though he denied ever writing it.

His lawyer, Ayo Omolesho, argued that the case lacked sufficient evidence, emphasizing that Olowookere was not apprehended at the crime scene.

Despite this, the court convicted them, sentencing them on December 17, 2014, to death for conspiracy, life imprisonment for robbery, and three years for theft. Olowookere was 21 at the time.

In a recent interview, Olowookere described his journey to incarceration, alleging police misconduct and coercion.

He recounted that in April 2010, while discussing his university admission plans with his father at their shop, police officers stormed the area and arrested him after an initial attempt to detain his father.

He said, “I was at my father’s shop in Oyan after returning from school. My dad and I were discussing my university admission and suddenly, we heard gunshots, and everybody ran away except my dad and a few others.

“My father was taken to a police van where there were some children. I was peeping out and could hear and see what was going on. The police asked my dad where I was and he asked them what my offence was. When they couldn’t give him a satisfactory response, my father shouted at the top of his voice that I should run away because the police wanted to arrest me.

“But I was wondering what my offence was. So, I came out and went to meet them. I was detained at the police post in Oyan, and was taken to Okuku Divisional Police Headquarters the following day. I met the children who were in the police van when they came for me sitting on the ground and eating rice.”

Olowookere claimed he was tortured into submission and falsely accused by minors who were also arrested but later released.

He said, “The DPO told me that one of the children confessed to stealing two broilers and some crates of eggs. I met the broilers and the eggs at the station. The children were eight in number. He told me the children said I was their gang leader, which I denied.

“The children he was talking about were around 12 and 13 years old, while I was 17 then. I told him I knew the children but I didn’t have anything to do with them other than greeting them in the community.”

He denied knowing Morakinyo or participating in any criminal activities.

“I met Sunday Morakinyo at the station and he told the police that he didn’t know me, nor had anything to do with me. I don’t even know where he was arrested. All the children were released but Morakinyo and I were not.

“We were seriously tortured from the first day I got to the Okuku Police Station under the supervision of the DPO. The children who allegedly committed the crime were not beaten. He repeatedly asked me to admit and confess to a crime I didn’t commit.

“After some days, we were given cutlasses to cut the grass at the police station premises despite having injuries on every part of our body as a result of the torture.”

He also refuted reports suggesting he had written a confessional statement or lived in a luxury apartment, asserting that he lived with his parents at the time of his arrest.

“I never wrote any statement to the police. My parents never had a flat, not to mention a six-bedroom flat. I lived with my parents until I was arrested,” he stated.

Asked why his lawyer didn’t object to the statement during the trial, Olowookere said, “I didn’t know anything, but I am sure I didn’t write any statement.”

Reacting to Olowookere’s case, Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has directed the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwole Jimi-Bada, to investigate the matter and explore options for a pardon. In a statement on his official X (formerly Twitter) account, Adeleke assured the public of his commitment to justice and equity.

“I have instructed a thorough review and expedited action on granting prerogative mercy to the young man. Osun is a land of fairness and justice, and we will ensure that every citizen’s rights are protected,” Adeleke said.

The case has sparked widespread concern, with many calling for a review of the judicial process that led to Olowookere’s conviction and sentencing.

A fire outbreak involving a petrol tanker gutted a fuel station in Itam, near the Uyo metropolis of Akwa Ibom State in the early hours of Saturday.

The Public Relations Officer, Akwa Ibom State Police Command, ASP Timfon John, who confirmed the incident in a statement, said there was no casualty and that an investigation to unravel the cause of the incident has commenced.

“We received information about a fire outbreak in Itam, and officers were immediately dispatched, there was no casualty and the investigation is still ongoing”, ASP John said

Our correspondent reports that the fuel station caught fire when a truckload of Premium Motor Spirit reportedly supplying fuel to the station went up in flames.

A thick smoke from the fire soon attracted a large crowd of people who stood helplessly by, while Fire Service personnel battled to put out the fire.

Motorists who spoke with journalists expressed concerns about the incident, praying that it should not lead to the loss of lives.

‘What we are afraid of is it resulting in a loss of life, the property and resources lost, might be regained but we don’t want any human life to be affected, ” one motorist said.