When 30 year old Akolade Arowolo and Titilayo tied the knot in November 2008 , there was merymaking as families, friends and well-wishers joined them to celebrate what appeared like true love. Many unmarried young men and women who graced the occasion, wished they were in the shoes of the couple.
After a while it was learnt that the couple had a baby girl. Both families and well wishers were on hand to share the joy of the arrival of the baby with Akolade and Titilayo.
However, on Friday, it was with rude shock and disbelief that the residents of Aswani area of Isolo, Lagos where the couple lived received the news that Titilayo had been stabbed in the chest and her body mutilated by her husband.
The question on everybody's lips was what could have gone wrong? Curious enough Titilayo was murdered on her husband' 30th birthday.
When they spoke with a former classmate of Akolade in the University of Lagos, he said Akolade battered his wife on several occasions because he was frustrated. Akolade's classmate, who craved anonymity, suspected that he (Akolade) was drunk and stabbed her to death on the day of the incident.
He said, "Arowolo lost his job about two years ago. Titlayo had been sustaining the family with her salaries. I heard he beat her, but she did not tell her relatives. She however confided in one of her colleagues.
'She got home one day and saw that he had sold her car. When she confronted him, he said he needed money. It strained their marriage for a while and she left the house. But she later went back.
It was learnt that Titlayo, an employer of Skye Bank, Nigeria PLC. Marina Branch, confided in one of her colleagues that her marriage was undergoing challenges but was reluctant to leave because she did not want her daughter to be raised in a broken home.
It was gathered that although Akolade was not gainfully emplyed, he was running a company register as 'Auditing Business and functioned as both the auditor and the Chief Executive Officer. Despite this, it was learnt that Titilayo was solely responsible for the upkeep of the family and this frequently caused friction between the couple.
One of Titilayo's colleagues in the office, who craved anonymity said, "Last Friday she (Titilayo) started her leave and informed her parents she would be coming over for the weekend because her father lives in Ifako while she lived in Isolo with her husband. She was the one that even paid the house rent. She paid about N1.3m recently.
When her relatives didn't hear from her again, they called her phone several times but she didn't pick her calls. Later, her husband called back to say they had a small misunderstanding, which had been sorted out.
They asked to speak with her, but he said she was busy and would call back later. But they didn't hear from them again. The neighbours however saw her husband jump through the window with blood stains and drove off. But since there was no screaming from the apartment or any noise to suggest they were quarrelling, the neighbours thought all was well.
It gathered also that Titilayo's body was discovered two days later with a knife still in her neck. She was stabbed severally in the face and chest by her husband who ran away.
