Questions are being asked about what could have prompted a 22-year-old university drop- out, simply identified as Jerry, to want to rape Mrs Eunice Ajayi Omoniyi, 57, wife of a pastor, in Akure, Ondo State capital.
The incident happened on February 20 at Peace-land Road, along Ilesa-Akure Expressway at about 5pm.
The suspect, now on the run and has been declared wanted by the state Police Command, allegedly hacked his victim to death with a digger for rejecting the ungodly act.
The husband of the deceased, Pastor Omoniyi, was attacked when he tried to rescue his wife and iscritically ill at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTH) Ile- Ife, Osun State where he was referred to from the state Specialist Hospital, Akure.
The deceased, a mother of two, was the Headmistress of St Peter’s Anglican Primary School, Ijare while Jerry, the suspect, was said to have been rusticated from two institutions for being a member of secret cult.
The suspect was said to have attacked the woman with a digger and shovel he found in the pastor’s apartment while he struggled to rape her.
He was said to have torn the dress of his victim and had successfully removed her pants down to her knee but the deceased with her last breathe did not cave in.
This reportedly infuriated the suspect and must have decided that if he would not have his way, the woman would not live to tell the story.Sunday Vanguard learnt that the husband was only some distance away reading his Bible.
Earlier, Jerry, said to be known to the couple, asked the pastor the whereabouts of the wife when he arrived their house.
It was gathered that the pastor informed the suspected killer where to find his wife unknown to him that he was an agent of death on the prowl.
After about 20 minutes, Pastor Omoniyi, while trying to retire to his room, met his wife on the bed, half dead and in a pool of blood.
The killer was still trying to rape the deceased when the husband came into the room and he too was attacked.The shout for help, from the pastor attracted neighbours who rushed to the room to meet the couple lying on the floor wriggling in pains.
The wife, according to reports, died before she got to hospital while the husband was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit at the Specialist Hospital, Akure for treatment from the head injuries inflicted on him.While the neighbours were busy trying to save the lives of the couple, the suspect reportedly escaped and attempt by some students residing in the area to apprehend him failed.
Speaking on the incident, a cousin to the slain woman, Mr Komolafe, said the pastor, who spoke with him on his sick bed, narrated how Jerry came to the house and asked after his wife who was in the bedroom.
Komolafe pointed out that he was informed that the suspected killer attacked the couple with a digger and shovel.
”When Jerry left the house, he went into a Federal University of Technology Akure, FUTA, students apartment, broke into it, removed his blood stained clothes and changed before disappearing into thin air.He appealed to security operatives to help fish out the suspected killer. Police authorities in Ondo State have launched a manhunt for Jerry.
Spokesman of the Command, Wole Ogodo, vowed that the suspect would be arrested and made to face the full weight of the law.
”We discovered that the suspect attempted to rape the deceased because her pants were half removed by the suspect. ”Our men have visited the house of Jerry but he was not foundthere. So we are yet to not make any arrest on the matter,” Ogodo said.He disclosed that the police have commenced investigation into the matter. The police spokesperson said that the remains of the deceased had been deposited at the mortuary of the state Specialist Hospital, Akure while her husband who sustained serious injuries from the attack was in hospital.
