Husband accused of burning wife to death
He’s implicated by brother’s ‘deathbed statement’
A MAN has denied murdering his wife by setting her on fire after she made a trip home to Nigeria from Scotland.
Mother-of-four Chinyere Ogudoro, 46, and her brother Ifeanyi Edoziem suffered fatal injuries during an incident at her family home in Lagos.
Her husband Benjamin Ogudoro, 50, has been arrested on suspicion of murder amid claims that he set both his wife and his brother-in-law alight as they slept.
Mrs Ogudoro moved to Scotland four years ago to study at Glasgow Caledonian University and gained a master’s degree in international business management.
Following her graduation, she had set up her own management consultancy company in the city.
Her husband said she died in a fire at their home but insisted he did not start the blaze and had tried to save her.
Mr Ogudoro is being held in custody but was allowed to speak to journalists outside the Lagos State Police Command headquarters.
He said: ‘I did not kill my wife.
It is absolutely not true that I poured fuel on my wife and her brother. It was a case of a fire incident.
‘My wife came back from Scotland and she called me at about 9pm that day to tell me she was around, probably she wanted to take me by surprise. I started rushing home.
‘When I got home, she was already inside. We hugged and I took some of the luggage inside.’
Mr Ogudoro said he later went out to a bar and left his wife and her brother in the guest room of the house. He added: ‘By the time I went back to the house, she was still with her brother in the guest room. I was on my phone and I suddenly saw an unusual light coming from the balcony close to the guest room.
‘When I got there, I opened the door and I saw the fire. I moved back immediately because the flames had already touched me.
‘I even sustained injuries on my hand and legs.
‘I ran to the place I went to drink earlier. Some people were there and I asked them for help and begged them to pour water on me because my body was hot. They poured some water on me and that was the last thing I remembered until I found myself in the hospital.’
Mrs Ogudoro died at the scene of the incident in the early hours of April 1.
Her younger brother died later in hospital but was able to give a dying declaration to police alleging that his brotherin-law was responsible.
Reports in Nigeria say Mrs Ogudoro had returned to Nigeria after finding out her husband planned to sell their family home without her permission.
However, Mr Ogudoro said: ‘I have always had a good relationship with my wife.
‘I have been a very responsible husband and father to my children.’
Superintendent Benjamin Hundeyin, spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, said the investigation into the deaths was nearing conclusion and Mr Ogudoro will appear in court soon.
After her death, a Glasgow Caledonian University spokesman spoke of her ‘dedication to her studies’ and her ‘motivation,’ adding she would be ‘missed by all who knew her’.
Sir David Attenborough, who continues to publish books and make TV programmes, amassed £1million in the year to last September, I can reveal.
Newly filed accounts for his business, David Attenborough (Productions) Ltd, disclose that it’s sitting on a cash pile of £2.8million, up from £1.9million the previous year.
Sir David, who turns 96 next month, has bills to pay — including to the taxman — of £1.3million, giving him a profit of £1.8million for last year.
The shareholders are Sir David, his son Robert and daughter Susan. His wife, Jane, died in 1997.