Woman kills husband in Ekiti, claims insanity

An Ekiti State High Court in Ado Ekiti has ordered one Janet Jegede to be kept in custody as a criminal lunatic at the Correctional Centre, Afao Road, Ado Ekiti.

The convict was arraigned before Justice Bamidele Omotoso on September 16, 2020, on one count charge bordering on murder.

The charge read that Janet Jegede (36) on 17th November, 2019 at Ado Ekiti within the jurisdiction of this honorable court, did murder one Jegede Kayode, (Her husband) contrary to Section 316 and punishable under Section 319 (1) of the Criminal Code Law, Cap C16, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.

In his statement to the Police, the stepson, Jegede Ayomide said, “I received a call from my stepmother informing me to come home to take my father to the hospital . When I got home, I met my father in the pool of his own blood, gasping for breath. I saw a knife hung in his chest. I asked her what happened, but her explanation was incoherent. When I removed the knife, the bleeding increased. I went outside to call other neighbours to help me take him to the hospital. He was rushed to Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) where he was confirmed dead on arrival.

“My step mother once asked me to warn my father to stop cheating on her. She threatened to kill him. I took it as an empty threat until she killed my father,” he concluded.

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To prove the case, the prosecutor, Olowoyo-Richard Ayobami called five witnesses and tendered statements of the defendant, a knife, photographs of the lifeless body of the deceased and statements of the witnesses as exhibits.

In his pleadings, counsel to the defendant, Emmanuel Adedeji said, the defendant was mentally imbalanced at the time of the incident, he urged the court to discharge and acquit the defendant on the ground of insanity.

In his judgment, Justice Bamidele Omotoso said, “It is settled that where a plea of insanity succeeds, the defendant will be ordered to be confined in a prescribed place to await further order of the appropriate authority.

“I hereby order that the defendant, Janet Jegede, be kept in custody as a criminal lunatic at Correctional Services Centre, off Afao Road, Ado Ekiti until the governor’s pleasure be known in line with Section 223 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law, 2011,” the judge ruled.