By Evelyn Usman

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 51-year-old man, who allegedly hacked his 81-year-old mother to death, Tuesday night, at her United Estate apartment in Sangotedo area of Ajah, Lagos, during an argument over remittance of his N11 million share according to his late sister’s will.

Vanguard gathered that the suspect, Oluwaseye Ayoola, charged into his mother’s house, Tuesday evening, demanding for the money. The amount as gathered was willed to him by his late sister.

A relative, who spoke on condition of anonymity, disclosed that the deceased only gave the suspect N500,000, which he was alleged to have squandered.

Oluwaseye Ayoola

Argument over the refund of N10.5 million between the suspect and his late mum had reportedly been on for a while. But she was said to have been advised by some of his children to ensure that the former had a good plan for the money before releasing it to him.

However, during an argument over the N10.5 million, Tuesday, the suspect was alleged to have hit his mother with an axe on the head, causing her to slump. Thereafter, he left her in a pool of blood and fled.

Residents described the suspect as the black sheep of the family. One of them, who gave her name simply as Njideka, said: “We were all shocked when one of his brothers rushed out and alerted people of the incident.

“The man in question has been misbehaving, holding members of his family to ransom whenever he needed anything from them.

“Argument over the money has been on and on several occasions, he had threatened that he would kill his mother if she does not give him the money. He had indeed made do his threat.”

Neighbours’ story

But some of the residents gave different versions as to how the octogenarian was killed. Some of them claimed she died after she hit her head on the ground during the scuffle with her son. Others said the suspect dropped a television set on her head.

Another resident, Shina Idowu, said: “He was living with his mother before he moved to his own apartment, which rent was paid by the deceased. He has some of his siblings abroad and they usually send him money.

“Others in Lagos also assist him financially. But he does virtually nothing other than depend on them. Yet, he usually complained that no one in the family liked him. He insisted that the N11 million left for him by his late sister be given to him.

“But their fear was that he would squander it. Had mama known, she would have given him, at least, it would have saved her from dying in this horrible manner.

“He has also threatened to kill his siblings after killing his mother. Everyone is scared of him because he is a tyrant. Some people even assume he is insane.”

But no member of the bereaved’s family was willing to speak when contacted, as they claimed that they were not in the mood to speak.

Police react

Spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Dolapo Badmus, who confirmed the incident, disclosed that policemen from Ogombo Division, on getting information, swung into action and later apprehended the suspect.

According to Badmus: “At about 11.15p.m. on Tuesday, one Akintunde Ayoola of United Estate, came to the station and reported that on same date, at about 6pm, he got information that his brother, Oluwaseye Ayoola, manhandled his mother over failure to release an undisclosed amount of money to him.

“On arrival at the scene, he found his mother, Dorcas Ayoola, in a pool of blood, while the culprit, Oluwaseye fled to an unknown destination. But policemen from Ogombo lunched a manhunt for the suspect and arrested him.

“On interrogation, he confirmed that he had gone to his mother and asked her to give him N500,000 out of the N11 million his late sister left behind, but that she refused. He said he used an axe on her. Her corpse is in a general hospital mortuary for post-mortem, while the suspect is in custody.”