By Christopher Oji
When a popular hotellier, Mr. Femi Bakare Alaba, and his wife returned recently from a trip to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, their house at 9, Finance Road, Maplewood Estate, Oko-Oba, Agege, Lagos, was a Mecca of sorts, as family and friends thronged the premises to welcome them back.
No one envisaged that danger loomed. In fact, if anyone had told them that the life of one of the couple would be abruptly cut short, the person would have been dismissed and tagged a prophet of doom.
Those who visited them when they returned were not disappointed as they were well entertained and got one gift or the other.
The family was described as philanthropists as well as peace-lovers such that they were the envy of residents. The couple was loved and admired by all.
But in the morning of January 24, things took a dramatic turn. Alaba, owner of the popular Bama Hotel, was murdered by his wife of eight years.
According to a source, Bama, as he was fondly called, was allegedly burnt with a hot iron by his wife.
The resident, who identified himself simply as Emmanuel, said: “We were told that Bama’s wife discovered that another woman was pregnant for her husband and was embittered.
“She waited for the man to sleep and used hot iron to press his body and the man died out of severe pain. We are still baffled and surprised how the woman, who we saw as easy-going, would have the mind to kill her husband in his sleep.
“The deceased was the owner of Bama Hotel and Suites. He was a good man and we respected him a lot. The couple had three kids and they just returned from Dubai before the incident occurred.”
A police source at the Lagos State Police Command, told Daily Sun that the case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti, Yaba for investigation.
However, when the correspondent visited SCIID, Panti, he was told by the homicide section of SCIID that the case had not really been transferred to the section.
Efforts to speak with the family members of the deceased and the suspect proved abortive as the guards at the estate said they needed confirmation from the family to enable them give access to the correspondent.
Although details of the incident are still sketchy, a security guard at the estate confirmed that Mr. Alaba, aka Bama, was murdered by his wife, saying, “We were told that she plugged an electric pressing iron for a long time and pressed the man on his chest.
“The heat affected his heart and he couldn’t make it to the hospital. We heard that she accused the deceased of impregnating another woman. And from what I heard, she drugged him and used hot iron to press him to death.
“In fact, we couldn’t believe what we saw that fateful Monday.”