He drank rat poison over N1m loan-Accused Widow of Pharmacist

There is nothing to describe what Busayo Olafare is going through at the moment as she languishes in the custody of the Department of Criminal Investigation of the Lagos State Police Command, one week after the suspected suicide of her pharmacist husband, Paul. 

Paul was found dead in their Oworonsoki, Lagos home on Sunday, April 12, 2015. His death was initially suspected to have been suicide because a container of a popular rat poison, called ‘Sniper’ was found beside him. 

However, his late husband’s relation told the police that his wife might have poisoned him and made it look like suicide. 

According to Punch,in a statement made at the DCI by a relation of the deceased, Busayo was found packing her belongings out of their house shortly after her husband’s body was discovered, which was why they suspected that she might be attempting to run away. 

But Busayo, in her statement to the police, explained that right from when she first met her husband, her family and that of Paul’s have not been in good terms. 

“I was in the bathroom that evening when he drank the poison called Sniper. I came out of the bathroom and saw him holding the bottle and quickly snatched it away from him, but he said he had already drunk the poison,” she told the police. “I know my husband owes a lot of money. It is at least N1m.That is the only reason my husband can kill himself. He has been very depressed because of the money he owes.”

Busayo, who got married to Paul in 2011 and had a son with him, said she had cried and wailed as she assured her in-laws that she had no reason to kill her husband but they still did not believe her. 

When our correspondent visited the DCI, some family members of Busayo, who were angry about the continued detention of the widow, said instead of allowing her to mourn, they have subjected her to more punishment. 

A relation, Mr. Soyemi, who identified himself as uncle of the suspect, told our correspondent that he would be releasing a statement on their side of the story. 

The investigators at the DCI said an autopsy would soon be carried out on the deceased’s body. 

A source close to the investigation told our correspondent that at the moment, there was no reason to release Busayo and rule the deceased’s death as suicide. 

“The wife is still the prime suspect for now,” the source said.

Paul graduated from University of Lagos in 2006 and was described by friends on his Facebook wall as a youth leader in a white garment church in Lagos.Busayo is also a graduate of UNILAG. 

At the time of filing this report, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Kenneth Nwosu, had not been reachable for comment as calls placed to him indicated his phone was switched off.

Punch