Mubarak Akadiru, the son of a housemaid, faced police detectives in an Akure Magistrate Court for the killing of 62-year-old grandmother and retired head teacher, Mrs. Sidikat Adamolekun, in Arigidi Akoko, Ondo state.
The accused, 18, narrated the incident, admitting to using a wooden stool to repeatedly strike the victim’s head after she caught him attempting to steal her Samsung phone. Akadiru’s mother had worked as a housemaid for the deceased.
According to him “As usual, I went to the house to work and I later came back to steal her Samsung phone. Unfortunately, the deceased caught me after I’d stolen the phone.”
“So, she held me. In an attempt to escape, I used a wooden stool to hit her head, but the old woman kept shouting for help. Thereafter, I hit her repeatedly on her head until she fell and died.”
The police charged Akadiru with murder, stating that the crime occurred on November 14, 2023, at about 11:30 am at Simiileolowa Quarters, Arigidi Akoko.
The charge reads in part, “That you, Akadiri Mubarak ‘m’ on November 14, 2023 at about 11:30 am at Simileoluwa Quarters, Arigidi Akoko in the Ondo State Magisterial District, did unlawfully kill Madam Sidikat Adamolekun, a retired headmistress, by hitting her with a wooden stool on her head while he dispossessed her of her Android Samsung phone valued at N66,000.”
The prosecution cited a violation of Section 319 of the Criminal Code, Cap. 37, Vol.1, Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria, 2006. The defendant, with no legal representation, did not enter a plea.
The police prosecutor requested the court to remand Akadiru at the Olokuta Correctional Centre pending advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Magistrate Damilola Sekoni granted the remand application, ordering the accused’s detention at the Olokuta Correctional Centre until the DPP’s advice is received. The case is adjourned until March 15, 2024, for mention.
| Vanguard