An Islamic cleric in Ekiti State reportedly set fire to his wife’s home after she refused to join him in a late-night prayer.
In an exclusive interview with The Punch on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, Bosede Afolabi, the wife, revealed that an incident occurred on April 27 when her husband returned home and requested that they observe a prayer around 11 pm, a request she declined due to tiredness.
Afolabi stated that her husband became angry when she refused to participate in the prayer, and he started causing trouble, which prompted her to invite neighbours to calm him down.
Despite her attempts to explain that she was exhausted after a long day at work, her husband failed to understand, and when he started behaving violently, she left the house and went to sleep at a neighbour’s house.
“At about midnight, a girl from our neighbourhood came to knock on the house to inform us that my house was on fire and that it seemed my husband had set the house on fire,” she narrated.
“I and some neighbours rushed to the scene only to see that the whole building had been engulfed in fire. Before we could get help in putting the fire out, the building had been razed.
“He was later caught and handed over to the police.”
She added that she remarried Ojo after her first husband passed away, and she has been accommodating him since they got married.
When asked if there had been recurring misunderstandings between them, Afolabi said they had no misunderstanding before the incident.
She, however, blamed her husband’s action on the influence of alcohol.
“What I observed that night was that he was drunk, which was why I tried to avoid the escalation of the disagreement that ensued on that fateful day. He often comes home drunk sometimes, but we have not had any serious misunderstanding in the past,” Afolabi noted.
She added that the incident had left her in a devastating situation due to the huge loss it had caused her.
“I have not been myself since the incident happened because of the loss it has caused me. I appeal to Nigerians to come to my aid,” she concluded.
The spokesperson for the State Police Command, Sunday Abutu, who confirmed the incident said that the suspect is under investigation.
“The incident happened. The man has been arrested and he is currently undergoing investigation at the state’s CID,” Abutu added.
