In Sunday Vanguard of last week, we reported the case of
41-year-old Festus Aimufua who allegedly murdered his lady friend, Ms Rose
Aifuwa, on Christmas Day. Aifuwa, a mother of four, was based in Austria but
returned to Nigeria with her Austrian passport last December to celebrate the
Yuletide with her family. According to the deceased family, Festus allegedly
killed their daughter because the deceased was requesting for the money
allegedly owed her by the suspect.
They alleged that on that Christmas Day, their daughter
insisted that Festus should pay the money but the suspect ran away from the
deceased residence, hitting her with his car. It was said that the suspect
dragged the deceased under the car till he got to Upper Mission Extension
junction where he dumped the mangled body. After the incident, the Austrian
government contacted the Nigeria Police and demanded that the matter be
properly investigated since the deceased was an Austrian citizen.
Ever
since the incident, the police in Edo State has been conducting their
investigation and the suspect confessed to have committed the murder, though
unknowingly. Sunday Vanguard spoke to the suspect on Friday and he expressed
regret for killing a woman who, according to him, he loved. He, however, denied
owing the deceased, asserting that the only business he had with her was in
February last year and he paid for the goods.
He
narrated: “ I am 41 years old and a motor spare parts dealer. I did not kill
her. It happened on the 25th of December very early in the morning. There is
one boy that help me to pack my goods, the boy was with me. After I dropped my
family, I now decided to go and drop the boy. On getting to Upper Mission
junction, she called me and asked if I didn’t know that, that day was watch
night, and that if I would come to see her. I said I was coming. Immediately I
turned my car and drove down to her shop, she had a bar. On getting there I saw
some boys there drinking. I called the sales girl there and told her to give
everybody drink. The drink amounted to N1,800. Among the boys there one of them
knew me, so bought me one bottle. So I told my lady friend that I needed to go
and drop the boy with me as he was drunk. I promised her that I will come back.
That was how she allowed me go.
“I drove
off. We stopped somewhere to have a drink. I equally bought drink for people
there. But somehow I decided that I will go home after dropping the boy, but
immediately I passed Upper Mission junction, near her place, her call came in.
So I told her I was coming and I decided to turn my car to her house. When I
got to her place, I took a stick of cigarette from her and told her that I will
need to go home early, that some body was in my car. But as I was leaving her
door she blocked me. I told her that I guessed she was drunk because any time
she was drunk, that was the way she behaved. But the next thing I noticed was a
slap, I retaliated. Before that I observed that some body was sleeping
somewhere in her room, where I went to collect the cigarette. So I went outside
but the boy sleeping there woke up and told me not to leave the house.
She went to wake up another person and was telling the person something
inside. So the guy came out and said I should not leave the compound. The boy
started making calls, so I quickly entered my car and locked the car. I saw her
rush towards me but I had pinned the doors already. But she blocked my car and
I saw two of the boys trying to drag her out of my way. Then I zoomed off, but
I was now asking my boy after we left the compound if I hit anybody. The boy
said no, that God forbid. But I was not comfortable because I was really
drunk”.
Asked if
he was owing the deceased, he said: “The only goods she brought to me was in
February, that was when we met. She brought them from Austria. I am not owing
her a dime. Not as if we were even fighting but the problem she had was that
any time I visited her she will not want me to leave when I wanted to. And that
was the argument, especially when she was drunk”.
“After I
checked my car very well, I did not notice anything. I went to my friend’s
place to inform him of my fear. I now called some body to go to my lady’s house
to find out whether I hit some body. The boy went and told me that there was
nothing like that. So I became confused. I called my younger brother to help me
investigate if she was okay. He called me later to say that he heard she was in
hospital and that they had deposited money. He later called me to say that they
saw a body at Upper Mission junction and that it was the lady. I called my
friends and they said I should go to the police station to report myself.
“I can’t
sleep, I can’t eat. This is somebody we did everything together and I loved
her. I did not beat her, I don’t know what happened. After the incident, some
youths went to my house to burn it down, all my people left the house. My
sisters can no longer open their shops because they are scared. I am not owing
her and we didn’t have any problem. I even bought her a bag of rice for
Christmas. I did not kill before, I am devastated”.
Source: Vanguard
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