Court remands man for killing his grandmother during food argument
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Vincent Awonugba, 23, who was earlier reported to have allegedly killed his grandmother Florence Olaoye aged 68 for reprimanding him for smoking cannabis, has been remanded in prison for murdering her during argument about food.
The accused was arraigned on a one-count charge of murder at a Magistrate’s Court in Akure, Ondo State.
Police arrested Awonugba for allegedly killing Olaoye with a knife on 6 August at her home in Labata Orimolade, Ondo town.
He claimed during interrogation to be innocent of the crime, saying neighbours intentionally linked him to his grandmother’s death because they knew they were always at loggerheads.
He appeared in court without legal representation and his plea was not taken.
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Suspicious movements
Police prosecutor Abdulateef Suliaman told the court the accused stabbed the victim on her neck during an argument about the rate of food consumption and his suspicious movements, according to reporting by Vanguard.
Suliaman said the offence contravenes Sections 316 and 319 of the Criminal Code, Cap. 37, Vol. 1 Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria, 2006.
He asked the court to remand Awonugba in a correctional centre pending legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Magistrate Tope Aladejana ordered his remand at the Olokuta correctional centre pending advice from the DPP and adjourned the case to 27 September.
Reprimand for smoking cannabis
Earlier reports in August had said Awonugba killed Olaoye for reprimanding him for smoking marijuana and her lifeless body was discovered in her room by another grandchild, Pelumi, who raised the alarm after returning from an errand.
Both grandchildren were arrested by the police.
“Our grandmother sent me to get snail from the market for us to cook stew. As I was about to leave the house, my brother, Vincent, came in and said he wanted to iron his clothes.
“Immediately I went inside the room and gave him the iron and I left to get the snail,” Pelumi told Vanguard.
“When I came back, my brother was still in the room with my grandmother. Later, grandma asked me to get her firewood. By the time I came back with the firewood, I met grandma on the floor in a pool of her blood.
“Grandmother and my brother were not on good terms on the issue that my brother smokes marijuana. On the fateful day, a fight erupted between them before I left the house because my brother did not do the work grandmother gave to him.”
Vincent denied killing his grandmother, saying he left the house after his brother went to the market, and when he returned, he met the grandmother dead.
“I immediately raised the alarm after seeing grandma in a pool of her blood by alerting our neighbours,” he said at the time.