Photo: Man Batters Wife’s Niece For Using Air Conditioner

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Latifat Adeyemi

The Punch reports that 27-year-old beautician, Latifat Adeyemi, has been was brutalized by her aunt’s husband, Rasak Alabi, aka Alfa, in their house in Solebo, Ikorodu area of Lagos state. Alabi was said to have claimed that the gadget consumed excessive power, and allegedly hit the victim with a spanner in the face and flogged her with a piece of cable, which led to her admission in a private hospital.

It was reported that for the past 10 years, Latifat and her grandma had been living in a bungalow at the back of the house on Ile Eye street, which was reportedly built by Alabi’s wife. Alabi was said to have separated from his wife for the past 20 years, but moved into the building in 2015 after settling his rift with his wife, a nurse, who is based in the United States of America.

There however have been numerous misunderstandings since Alabi moved into the house; One of which he evicted some relatives in the house. Latifat said she was staying in the house because she had to take care of her grandma who had been living in the house for quite a while. She said:

“My aunt is a nurse and she is based in the US. She put her mother in the house and asked me to cater to her. Grandma and I had been living in that house for over 10 years. Alfa (Alabi) and my aunt separated over 20 years ago. They never had a child together. But last year, they reconciled and the family said we needed a man in the house; so he moved into the house. He evicted our last born, but I stayed behind because of grandma.”

“Last week Friday, when I returned from Surulere around 7pm, I saw that he had broken into my apartment and removed the AC there. He said the AC consumed too much power. I made a call to my uncle and I told him that I would be packing out of the house because I was fed up. As I turned around, he hit me in the eye severally with a spanner and as I ran off, he picked a cable piece and flogged me.”

She said she went to the Ipakodo Police station to report the incident, adding that operatives who followed her to the house met the gate locked. They could not enter the house.  Her half-sister, Rasheedat, said there had been disagreement between Alabi and Rashidat in the past, adding that the AC was only an excuse for the suspect to chase her out of the house. She explained:

“This is the only girl left in that house because of grandma. He had been finding excuses to send her away.”

Not long after the incident, Alabi reported to a vigilance group, Onyabo, that his car had been vandalised by Latifat’s siblings. He also went to the Igbogbo Police station to make other accusations. Rasheedat said the police decide to help broker peace between the parties, but the suspect rejected the move and ejected the grandma from the house.

“The old woman, who had left her husband’s house for the past 30 years, had returned to the same place again,” she added.