Lekan Shonde Tells His Own Side Of The Story On The Alleged Killing Of His Wife

The man who allegedly killed his wife and mother of his 2 children, Ronke Shonde in Lagos on Friday, has given his side of the story while in hiding. Lkan Shonde spoke to PUNCH Metro over the phone line provided by his in-law, Bolatito, which was confirmed by the police spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos. Mr. Shonde told Punch correspondent that his wife, Ronke provoked him on Thursday when she described how her lover slept with her in a hotel in Abuja on Thursday night.
 Lekan, a depot worker in the Apapa area of Lagos State, said his wife of eight years changed after she allegedly started dating the general manager of a publishing company she worked for.XX He said his late mother had warned him against marrying Ronke but he ignored his mother's warnings and still married Ronke, a decision he regrets.
 He said the last time he beat his wife was three years ago after they had a disagreement, adding that he never touched her since then. He narrated...
“Since I married my wife eight years ago, she has never bought anything into the house. I gave her N5,000 on Saturdays and N3,000 on Tuesdays for soup. I also gave her money to make her hair.
“She was working with GTB as a marketer, but she got sacked three years ago. For that period, I was the one feeding her and taking responsibility for everything in the family. I would wash her pants, bathe the children and buy foodstuffs in the house. She later got a job with a publishing company owned by her uncle.
“But my wife changed sometime in March, when she started dating the general manger of a publishing company. My wife was going to the office from Monday to Sunday and she wasn’t going to church again, all because of this man. She called him ‘Eyitemi’ (My own).
“Last week Friday, she went to Abuja and came back on Monday. She never told me that the lover was there with her. I learnt later that the lover was there and they slept together in the same room for four days.
“When she came back, she didn’t know I was inside the house. She started talking with the man on the phone that he really had fun with him and I didn’t know how to make love. She again said her private parts were paining her.”
He said when he confronted his late wife about the affair and she confirmed that she was indeed dating the other man.
 He said he got angry and told his late wife to leave the house but she refused to leave.
 He said that particular Thursday night, they had an argument over money. He said:
“It was around 9pm on Thursday. We had paid our nanny N20,000. Then we needed to pay our children’s teachers N30,000. I discovered she had taken N20,000 and when I asked her to return my money, she said she had spent it.
“I was angry because for the past three months, she didn’t allow me to have sex with her. I pushed her hand away from me on the staircase and I left her. She never tumbled or fell. In fact that night, I bought the food that we both ate because she said she didn’t want to cook.
“I didn’t know anything had happened to her until Friday when I saw her on the staircase. I thought she was still pretending. I just left her and walked away.”
When he was asked why he locked his children in the house, he denied doing so, adding that it was his son who closed the gate after the he left the house.
 Lekan also denied taking his late wife's phone, he said he left it on the bed.
 He said he didn't kill his wife and that he had no motive to do so, stating that he had bought her two cars and always provided everything she needed.
 He said:
“Jide, her family’s second child lived with me for three to four years. Their eldest daughter, Bolatito, has lived with me too.
“Although I am not a saint, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke. I am a responsible man. The problem with my wife was that she was temperamental. She shouted at me whenever she talked.
“I am a Lagos boy and I can be in this Lagos for the next 30 years and nobody would see me.”
The aunt of the victim, Bunmi, explained that the suspect, Lekan Shonde, has been threatening suicide since this crime took place, but they said they don't want him to do so because their mother has forgiven him.
 She said,
“Mummy is very sad with this, but she has forgiven him and does not want him to commit suicide.”
A family source said that Lekan had always accused his late wife of extra-marital affairs and that the suspect had frequently abused her. Adding that the police had been involved on occasion.
 He said:
“He always beat her because of his belief that she was into an extra-marital affair.
“The beating reduced a bit when the wife of her late brother who was one month pregnant before his death, moved into the house with them. She stayed for about eight months. She was like her saviour.”
Source: Punch