Chiemelie Ezeobi
A police inspector, whose identity is yet to be disclosed, shot his wife, who was a prison warden, dead at the Ikoyi Prison Barracks, Lagos, during a scuffle and thereafter shot himself in the head.
According to the neighbours, who were reluctant to talk for fear of arrest, the inspector shot his wife dead after she allegedly threatened to walk out of the marriage.
The police inspector, who was attached to the Highway Patrol, was said to have shot her at close range and she died on the spot.
Apparently realising the magnitude of his deed, he reportedly shot himself in the head and was rushed to an undisclosed hospital where he later died despite efforts by the doctors to save him.
Another account of some of the neighbours was that the policeman came home drunk Saturday evening and engaged his wife in a scuffle.
His wife, who was said to be having problems with him over matters bothering on his over-possessiveness and suspicious attitude, had allegedly threatened to quit the marriage.
She was also said to have told her husband to stop coming to the apartment, which was given to her by the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) as official accomodation.
But some neighbours alleged that the scuffle was over allegations of extra marital affairs leveled against the woman by her husband.
A resident who spoke on anonymity said: “I was in a barbing saloon to have a haircut when we heard a gunshot. It was followed by another. We were rattled.
“We went to check and discovered it was from one of the rooms upstairs. But nobody could go near there for fear of the unexpected. We had to call on the attention of the prison authorities. By the time they came, they found the couple in the pool of their blood, on the floor.
“They were rushed to the hospital but the woman was dead, while the man died yesterday. Only God knows the height of provocation that led to this tragic act.”
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bala Elkana, who confirmed the incident, said investigation had begun to ascertain the circumstances that led to it.
He also said the deceased inspector would be stripped of his rank, which means that all the entitlements will not be paid.
