Tenant Strangles Landlord Over Electricity Bill

When Madam Saidat Ishola had a scuffle with one of her tenants in Mowe, Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, fol­lowing a disagreement over electricity bill, she did not have any foreboding that the incident would eventually claim her life.

Ishola and Shakirat, a 33-year-old mother of two had allegedly engaged each other in fisticuffs over the disconnection of power supply to the tenant’s apartment due to her inability to settle her electricity bill.

Shakirat was said to have been infuri­ated when she woke up that morning and discovered that of all the tenants in the house, it was only her own apartment that had no electricity supply and in her at­tempt to get the situation rectified, a fight broke out between her and the landlady.

Although the two were separated and the matter resolved, Shakirat who felt humiliated remained bitter and aggrieved. But unknown to Ishola who thought the matter was over, Shakirat who was still boiling internally had a plan to take back her own pound of flesh. And hours after the fight, Shakirat got that chance when the landlady decided to take a nap that afternoon. As the landlady was enjoy­ing her sleep, Shakirat allegedly went stealthily into her apartment and suddenly grabbed her neck, strangulating her to death.

A pregnant relation of the landlady who saw Shakirat as she grabbed Ishola’s neck and made to rescue her was also said to have been over-powered by the rampaging mother of two. Immediately she accomplished her “mission”, Shakirat vanished into thin air

Policemen from Mowe Police Divi­sional Headquarters later visited the scene  of the crime and took away the land­lady’s corpse which they deposited at the morgue of the Olabisi Onabanjo Univer­sity Teaching Hospital, Sagamu. Since then the police have been on the trail of the killer-tenant whose whereabouts have remained a mystery.

The son of the late landlady, Samson, recounted: “I had left home very early in the morning for my workshop. It was while I was in my workshop that some­one told me to go back home, that one of our tenants was fighting with her.

“When I got home, I met my elder brother and some residents of the street who had already settled the matter, and so I returned to my workshop. After the matter had been settled, my mother went back to her apartment to freshen up and change her torn dress. It was while she was sleeping that our tenant sneaked into the living room and strangled her to death.

“When the suspect was strangling my mum, my uncle’s pregnant wife who was in the bedroom relaxing heard my mother cry and rushed out of the room, but she was overpowered by the tenant. Immedi­ately she killed my mum, she ran away without taking anything from her room.”

The victim’s son however pleaded with the police to help fish out the runaway suspect so that she would not go scot-free after committing such a heinous crime.

A resident of the area who pleaded anonymity said the runaway killer-tenant lost her husband last year and had since been living in the house without paying any rent, following a plea made by the deceased landlady with her own husband to allow her to live in the property free-of-charge.

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer,[PPRO], Muyiwa Adejobi, con­firmed the incident. He said the suspect was “still at large. Up till now, we are still trying to get the tenant.”