How uninvited guest made away with host’s money at wedding’

Nigerian Police in Lagos is on the trail of a suspected thief, who allegedly disguised as an invited guest to make away with property and money of a groom and his friend at a wedding in the state.
The incident happened on Saturday at Event Gallery, along Igando Road, Ojo area of the state, where the wedding held.
Clad in a white dress worn by the groom’s friends and relatives, the fleeing suspect was captured on camera as he picked wads of cash dished out to the groom, Afeez Adekoya, who was immersed in dancing.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the church service was on when he disappeared with a large sum of cash spent for Adekoya as well as the groom’s gold wristwatch.
He also reportedly carted away the phone of the best man under false pretenses of safekeeping it.
His third victim, our correspondent learnt, was the bride’s best friend, whose Samsung phone the suspect collected on the pretext that he wanted to transfer some pictures she took at the event into his phone.
Adekoya, who spoke to our correspondent on the telephone on Tuesday, said he was under pressure that day because the event started late.
He said it occurred to him that the suspect was a stranger, but he thought he came with one of “my friends.”
He said, “The engagement time was supposed to be 8am while the church service was supposed to start at 11am. As a result of some delay, the engagement started late and there was pressure on us to finish it on time so that the church service could commence.
“While we were hurrying to go for the engagement, he (the suspect) mingled with my friends. My wife and I were busy. I saw him and four of my friends collecting money. I was expecting my best man to gather all the money together, not knowing that all of them had given the money to him. They all thought the man was my friend they did not know or a family member.
“He (the suspect) came to me with a polythene bag containing N6,000. The money spent for me was really much more than that, but because of the pressure, I was not able to question him. It was already after 12pm. He followed me to where I changed my dress for the church service.
“He collected my gold wristwatch because I did not want to use it for the church service. He also collected my dress and kept it in my suitcase, which a friend later collected from him.”
Adekoya explained that the suspect subsequently followed his best man to a room, where the friend wore another dress for the church service.
The groom said the suspect collected the dress from the best man and took it to his (best man’s) wife, who was in a car, telling her that her husband directed him to collect his phone.
“After collecting the Samsung phone, which is worth N130,000, the suspect approached the bride’s best friend and told her that she had a lot of his pictures on her phone and that she should give him the phone to transfer the pictures to his phone.
“The lady was also under pressure, attending to our guests from Sagamu (Ogun State). She thought the man was my family member and gave him her phone. It was during the church service that we discovered that he had disappeared with the items,” Adekoya added.
He said he reported the case at the Iba Police Station, adding that the police promised to track down the suspect.
The bride, Abiola Folorunsho, said she initially had an impression that something was amiss with the suspect’s gesture, but she felt it would be insulting to ask for his details.
She said, “I was really angry that day. The man approached me inside a car I was and tried to pacify me. He was even trying to fan me. At that point, I wanted to ask my husband’s younger brother who he was, but I felt it would be insulting to ask such a question in his presence.
“The man gave me a handkerchief to clean my face and tried to get me food. I did not use the handkerchief because I had never seen him before. I saw him among the groom’s friends dancing. He was calling my husband ‘Egbon’ (brother) and I concluded he was my husband’s family member.
“He was everywhere, taking pictures and nobody suspected he was not invited or he had an ulterior motive. I think he banked on the pressure on us. It was our photographer who took his picture while he was dancing.”
Folorunsho stated her friend’s phone stolen by the suspect contained the soft copy of her thesis, adding that she had no backup for the work.
“She is studying for her master’s degree at University of Lagos. A day before the wedding, she tried to do the backup on her Gmail account to no avail. She was weeping when she discovered the man had fled with the phone. I was destabilised too,” she added.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Chike Oti, confirmed that the case was reported to the police, adding that investigation had commenced.

‘My wife is a thief, please separate us’

A Customary court in Ibadan has dissolved the marriage between a couple over the husband allegation that the wife had the habit of stealing and embarrassing him.
The petitioner, Akeem Folorunsho approached the Mapo Customary Court for divorce of his wife and the president of the court, Ademola Odunade granted his petition.
“Custody of the eight-month-old child produced by the union is granted to Fatima, while Akeem shall pay a monthly allowance of N5,000 for the child’s feeding,” the arbitrator added.
The petitioner had alleged that his wife threatened his life through constant theft of his money and property.
“Anytime I leave home in search of daily bread, Fatima searches through my clothes’ pockets to steal my money.
“I give her N2,000 every week, in addition to the abundance of food at home, including our baby’s daily needs.
“Worst still, my lord, after her departure from my home, Fatima suddenly came to my apartment, forcefully pulled off the burglary proof and made away with most of my property including refrigerator, mattress, DVD player, sound system, among others,” Akeem lamented.
Fatima, a teacher, denied the allegations leveled against her.
She said, “Akeem stopped catering to my needs not minding that I had not fully recovered from the surgery I had to give birth. That was the reason I carried his property to sell in order to sustain myself.”

How Lagos lawyer kills husband, cuts off private parts

A Lagos-based lawyer, Udeme Odibi has been allegedly stabbed her husband Otike Odibi to death, after disputed over property.
The couple who lived in Diamond Estate, Sangotedo, Ajah, Lagos State, were both lawyer.
According to report, the suspect was also said to have cut off the private parts of the deceased and stabbed herself in an attempt to also kill herself but she was rescued.
It was gathered that 47-year-old Udeme had threatened to stab her husband on Wednesday over a disagreement that ensued between them.
The husband, who was 50-year-old had informed a neighbour and his relatives about the threat on the telephone before he went to bed that night only for the wife to made good her threat in the early hours of Thursday, ripping out the entrails of the victim with a knife.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Chike Oti, who confirmed the incident in a statement, said the couple had endured three years of marriage fraught with domestic violence.
He said the couple did not have any child together, although Otike had a daughter in his previous marriage.
Oti stated that a distress call was put across to the Divisional Police Officer, Ogombo division, around 7.30am on Thursday as regards the murder.
“Based on the information, the DPO mobilised a team of detectives to the scene where they found the man lying on the bed in a pool of blood with his stomach ripped open, exposing his intestines. As if that was not enough, the killer severed his genitals and placed them on his right hand," the Police spokesman said.
“However, before the arrival of the police, Mrs. Udeme, who had unsuccessfully attempted to commit suicide after allegedly killing her husband, was rushed to a hospital for treatment by neighbours.”
The PPRO said the state Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, directed detectives from the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba, as well as forensic experts to the scene of the crime for investigation.
An eyewitness account revealed that the couple married three years ago after the deceased divorced his first wife. The deceased’s first marriage produced a daughter currently schooling in the United Kingdom. However, his second marriage is said to be without a child,” he added.
The police spokesperson stated further that information from a neighbour showed that the deceased had called him (the neighbour) a few hours before he was murdered, complaining that the wife was threatening to kill him with a knife.
He said the neighbour, however, warned him to be careful.
“The deceased also called his mother and his younger sister complaining of threat to his life that night,” Oti added.
He said the CP advised couples to resolve their matrimonial disputes amicably rather than resort to violence.