I heard strange voice asking me to kill my mother, daughter tells Ondo court

A 40-year-old housewife, Abiodun Oluyade, who set her 86-year-old mother, Olawanle Oluyade, ablaze, has said she heard strange voices asking her to kill her mother.

Oluyade, who was charged before an Ondo Chief Magistrates’ Court, said: “It was the handwork of the devil, a strange voice told me to do it and that I will be set free.  Please forgive me, my son and my husband are sick. There’s nobody to take care of them.”

Police prosecutor, Moremi Akao, said the defendant allegedly poured petrol on her 86-year-old mother while she was cooking in the kitchen, which caused fire to burn her.

Akao added that the defendant committed the offence on June 13, 2024, about 7a.m.,  at 1, Okedoko Street, Ondo town.

The offences, according to the prosecutor, contravenes Sections 315 and punishable under Section 319 of the Criminal Code Cap 37 Volume 1 Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria, 2006.

Akao applied for a date for issuance of advice from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP.

The plea of the defendant was not taken.

In her ruling, Chief Magistrate, Mosunmola Ikujuni, ordered the remand of the defendant in female prison and directed that the case file be sent to the Ministry of Justice for advice.

The trail magistrate adjourned the case till August 5, 2024 for the DPP’s advice.