After being found guilty of murdering his pregnant spouse in Ondo state, a man has been sentenced to death by hanging.

On Thursday, February 23, an Ondo State High Court in Akure sentenced Oluwaseun Olabode to death by hanging for killing his eight-month pregnant wife, Adaeze Anya Olabode. The case of murder was reported on May 5, 2020, through a petition written to the Commissioner of Police, Ondo State Command, by Dr. Henry Orumen esq on behalf of the family of the deceased, Mrs. Blessing Adaeze Olabode, against Olabode Oluwaseun.

During the trial, the prosecution led by H.M Falowo Esq, a Chief Legal Officer, presented a case that on April 3, 2020, at about 7:00 pm in Oke-Ogba Estate, Akure, the accused person beat his heavily pregnant wife, Adaeze Olabode, with a blunt object on the right side of her abdomen, which ultimately led to her death.

The father of the late Adaeze Anya Olabode testified that his daughter suffered violent maltreatment from her husband, Olabode Oluwaseun, and mother-in-law, Stella Olabode. He went on to say that his daughter had attempted suicide and left a suicide note in the past, but he had intervened and brokered peace between the couple. He stressed that the entire family was aware of the maltreatment.

Adaeze’s mother testified in court that Oluwaseun, informed her via a phone call that her daughter was sick while the phone was placed in the deceased’s ear but she could not hear her. She said that the defendant told her that he was rushing the deceased to the hospital.

She narrated that the next morning she met her daughter at Mother and Child Hospital while a caesarian operation had been performed on her, stating that she did not see the corpse of the baby that died in her womb, which necessitated the operation. She further testified that she thereafter visited her in the ward and discovered that blood was gushing out from the right side of her abdomen and a pipe was attached to the place where blood was gushing out, which was different from the place where the operation was conducted.

“My daughter informed me that it was her husband who hit her on that particular spot, which led to the bleeding and eventual loss of the baby,” she concluded.

Another prosecution witness, Chief (Mrs.) Folake Sarumi, stated that two months before the incident, the deceased had visited her house with her first son to solicit assistance in securing a transfer from Owo to Akure, to stop her mother-in-law from intruding into their marital affairs.

Sarumi said that the deceased informed her of various instances when she suffered domestic violence from the defendant. She explained that the defendant forcefully took possession of her ATM card, even though they operated a joint account, and that her mother-in-law had always said the defendant made a mistake by getting married to her.

On April 3, 2020, she testified that she received a phone call from the defendant, who informed her that the deceased had given birth, but the child did not survive. About a week after, she said that she got the information that she was dead.

One Abel Akinluyi also testified that, as a result of the maltreatment of the deceased by the husband, he was mandated to visit them and broker peace two years ago. He stated that when the deceased was hospitalized, he went to the hospital, and heard people talking that the husband of the deceased did not do well by beating a pregnant woman.

He explained that from what he gathered at the hospital, she was beaten by her husband when they had a minor argument over how he used the money she asked him to