A 46-year-old man, Hassan Azeez, has been arrested by operatives of Ogun State Police command, for pouring petrol on his wife and setting her ablaze.
The suspect was arrested following a report lodged at Ibogun divisional headquarters by the victim’s father on October 22, 2022.
The victim’s father reported that his daughter, Olayinka Hassan, was set ablaze by her husband over a minor disagreement, and that the victim, a mother of one, had been rushed to an hospital in Ibadan.
The spokesman of the police in Ogun State, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said upon the report, the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, Ibogun Division, CSP Samuel Oladele, mobilised his men and moved to the scene.
He said before the police could get to the scene, the suspect had escaped.
Since then, according to the spokesman, the police operatives had been on his trail until January 22, 2023 when he was apprehended.
On interrogation, the suspect who claimed to have run away to Benin Republic allegedly confessed to committing the crime.
The suspect was said to have blamed the devil for his action.
Explaining what happened, he told the police that he asked the victim to prepare food for him, but instead, she was busy washing clothes.
He stated further that he got annoyed because he was hungry and the annoyance made him to pour petrol on her and set her on ablaze.
When asked whose clothes the woman was washing, the suspect confessed that it was his clothes.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, CP Lanre Bankole, has directed that the suspect be transferred to homicide section of the state Criminal Investigation Departments for further investigation and possible prosecution.
