47-yr-old LASTMA official commits suicide after stabbing lover

A 47-year-old official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Emmanuel Mekuri, has reportedly committed suicide after stabbing his 37-year-old lover, Patricia Ogunshola, in their apartment around Zoo area, Araromi in Lagos State.

According to a statement released by the spokesman of the Lagos State Police Command, Bala Elkana, at about 1pm on Sunday, men of the Morogbo Police Station received a distress call that Emmanuel stabbed his lover, Patricia on her right thigh, with a Jackknife and in the process, stabbed himself as well, leading to his death.

Elkana said: ”Alarm was raised by the 13 years old daughter of the woman (whom she got from a previous marriage), which drew the attention of neighbours to the scene. In her statement, the girl stated that the deceased person, whom she referred to as her step father, made further attempts to stab her mother on the head but she quickly ran out of the room. That he subsequently stabbed himself on the stomach, his intestines gushed out and he died on the spot.

“On arrival at the scene, homicide detectives preserved the crime scene and rushed the injured woman to the hospital for medical attention. She is currently in stable condition. The corpse of the deceased person was evacuated to mortuary for autopsy. A blood stained knife was recovered from the scene.”

The police spokesman further added that preliminary investigation revealed that the couple started cohabiting in February, 2020, but they were not legally married.

According to him, there was a protracted argument between the couple that degenerated into physical assault purported to have arose from allegations bothering on infidelity on the part of the man.

He also disclosed that the state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, has ordered the immediate transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department Panti, Yaba for discreet investigation.