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A 62-year-old woman, Beatrice Safiu, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing her husband, has been freed.
Mrs Safiu, a mother of 6, who lived with her husband, Oluwatoyin Morufu Safiu, at Igere, Ihunusa Opic Extension, Agbara, Ogun State, killed her husband when she heard that his concubine delivered a baby.
According to reports, she allegedly poured acid on his face while he was asleep and hacked him to death with a pestle.
Mrs Safiu regained freedom on Saturday after nine years imprisonment.
The development followed the pronouncement by the state governor, Dapo Abiodun, during the June 12th celebration, who, in exercise of his prerogative of mercy, ordered the release of 41 inmates and changed the death sentence of 45 convicts to life sentences.
According to Governor Abiodun, the prisoners who received this gesture had shown remorse for their misdeeds, gained skills and certificates while incarcerated, and several of them had even graduated from the National Open University of Nigeria with a degree.
“It’s a case of murder,” she told DAILY POST, while describing the events that led to her going against the law.
“I had a fight with my husband over a strange woman whom he impregnated and wanted to bring into my home.
“ I refused and that caused a fight; he was coming from the restroom with a bucket of acid he wanted to pour on me and in self defense, I used my pestle that I use in pounding to hit the bucket and the whole liquid poured on him.
“All I was hearing was ‘Ara mi o, Ara mi o (my body my body) then he ran into the bathroom, entered the bathtub and tried to wash his body.
“So I ran out of the house to call my neighbour who is an evangelist.
“We rushed him to Agbara Medical Center first but he was rejected, they said they don’t have equipment for acid patients.
“We took him to another hospital around Agbara and he was also rejected so we had to drive to Badagry General Hospital; on getting there, they said there was no ward to place him and gave me a written note for us to take him to Lagos General hospital,” she said.
Mrs Safiu told our correspondent that her husband died around Alakija when she went looking for petrol after their car broke down.
She thanked Governor Abiodun and other human rights groups for her release from prison.
“I am very happy. I thank God for his grace upon my life because I know that it is grace that spoke for me. It was a tough experience here and I was able to survive through the grace of God,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Controller of Corrections in charge of Ibara Maximum Correction Centre, Opadeji Ayoola, expressed gratitude to the governor, stating that the initiative will aid in the decongestion of correctional facilities.
Ayoola urged members of the public to welcome them with open arms in order to help them effectively reintegrate into the society.
