The story is that of a strange
love, such that is uncommon. For
anyone that heard of a man
shooting his wife in the course
of a quarrel, the reaction would
be that such an act should be
punished.
But it sounds strange to hear
that the woman would still
profess love for such a person or
even plead for him at the police
station, despite sustaining
injuries from the shot fired by
the husband for whom she was
carrying a second child. That was
the drama that played out
between a couple recently at
Apete community, Ibadan.
The husband, Wasiu Waheed
(35)
, reportedly had a quarrel with
his wife and when he saw that
he could not silence his wife’s
caustic tongue, he decided to
use
a weapon that would have
silenced the woman forever,
save
for providence. Being a security
guard, Waheed possessed a
barrel gun and he did not
hesitate before picking the gun
which he allegedly aimed at his
wife, Kafayat.
Immediately she saw her
husband with the gun, the
woman knew she was in trouble
and attempted to escape.
However, her legs could not
move fast enough as the pellets
from the gun hit her on the
buttocks and back. Though not
apprehended when the incident
occurred, policemen at Apete
nabbed Waheed recently when
he had another case at the police
station. To the consternation of
all, Kafayat pleaded with the
police to, please, leave her
husband as there would be
nobody to take care of her and
her only child if he should be
detained.
She also defended her husband’s
action as something over which
he had no control. Speaking on
what led to the quarrel which
almost cost his wife her life,
Waheed, an Ibadan indigene
from Ayeye Patako Quarters,
said:
“The incident happened on
December 15, 2012. I am a
security guard. I came from
work
that day. The gun I took to work
did not fire when I pulled the
trigger, so when I got home , I
tried to remove the already
loaded pellets and the
gunpowder from it. “My wife
went to buy oranges which she
was selling and came back
between 7.30a.m. and 8a.m. that
day. I was inside sleeping. She
came to ask for money for
breakfast. I reminded her that
there was elubo and little stew at
home.
I told her to wait until I had
taken some rest but she went on
making noise outside. I woke up
and took the gun to remove the
pellets so that I could discharge
the gunpowder. “I held the gun
and was working on the gun.
She came back from the toilet
and still continued to rant. There
was an iron rod that I used to
solidify the gunpowder inside
the gun. I was using it when she
came and started struggling
with
me. In the process, the gun fell. I
wanted to pick the gun but my
hand mistakenly pulled the
trigger and the gun went off. I
did not even know that she was
hit by pellets because she ran
away.
“Shortly after, my father who
lives within our community, sent
people to call me. He was the one
who told me that I had shot my
wife and that she had blood
stains on her buttocks. Later, a
man in our community asked her
to report my action at the police
station. The police took her to a
hospital at Apete but they said
they could not take care of her.
“Later, we took her to a
traditional doctor where the
pellets were extracted locally .
She recovered quickly after that
and had continued with her
business.
“I was arrested recently when a
man I apprehended for moving
late in the night reported at
Apete station that I assaulted
him. that was how the police
said that I was a wanted man in
the case of an attempted
murder.
I told them, however, that I was
not on the run, and I had been
living with my wife after the
incident. It is not rational that I
would just pick a gun and shoot
my wife.” The wife, Kafayat
Rasak, who gave her age as 25
years initially declined to speak
with Crime Reports.
When she eventually spoke, she
tried to speak along the line of
her husband’s narration, but
when it was pointed out to her
that some of the things she said
were contradicting one another,
she opened up on what
transpired between her and her
husband on the fateful day.
According to her, “It is true we
had a quarrel but I believe that
his action was not ordinary. That
was not our first time of
quarrelling and he had always
had a gun which he never used
on me until that day. What
happened was that he threw my
things out when we quarrelled.
“My properties were outside for
about two weeks and some
things got missing. I went to him
and asked him to find those
things. When I saw that he got
up from where he was, I ran out
but the next thing I felt was pain
as pellets from his gun
penetrated my buttocks and
back.
But we have since settled
everything and the wound has
healed.” A police source told
Crime Reports that when the
incident occurred in December
last year, it was the wife who
came to the police station to
report. The source added that all
efforts to locate the man proved
abortive as he was alleged to
have absconded from home. But
the man, it was said, used to
come home at night to eat, enjoy
conjugal relationship with his
wife and sleep.
The source further stated that
they had to arrest the man when
a case of assault was reported
against him on February 11,
because signal on the initial case
had been sent to the command
headquarters and there was an
order that he should be arrested
whenever found. Crime Reports
gathered that Kafayat, who could
not stand her husband’s arrest
and detention, boldly walked
into
the office of a senior officer to
plead for the release of her
husband, saying that she could
not bear to see him suffer in
detention or taken to prison. The
noticeably-pregnant woman told
the police that she was not ready
to pursue the case.
However, the Deputy
Commissioner of Police in Oyo
State, Mr Clement Adoda, told
Crime Reports that the case was
still pending before the police,
stating that the offence was not
against the woman but the state.
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