Wife murders husband for losing to "Baba Ijebu" lotto

A Lagos State High Court in Ikeja on Monday sentenced a 29-year-old woman, Onyinyechukwu Akunne, to seven years’ imprisonment for killing her husband, Mr. Abuchi Akunne, with a kitchen knife.
It was learnt that the incident occurred during an argument over Premier Lotto, popularly known as Baba Ijebu.

Akunne was sentenced by Justice Josephine Oyefeso following a plea bargain agreement where the initial one count of murder was commuted to a charge of grievous bodily harm which she pleaded guilty to.

Before the sentence was pronounced, Akunne’s counsel, Mrs. P.O. Onu, in her allocation, had urged the judge to temper justice with mercy on the ground that the defendant is a first time offender.

On the day of the murder, the deceased reportedly came home angry for losing to 'Baba Ijebu' gambling, which resulted in a fight between him and his wife.

The convict had stated that Abuchi used to lose huge sums of money to Baba Ijebu which she had warned him to desist from playing.

“He came home angry after losing to Baba Ijebu. I told him to stop wasting money on Baba Ijebu. I asked him why he refused to stop playing the game, he started beating me,” the convict had said.

He allegedly picked the knife his wife was using to slice okra in an attempt to cut her.

At the point of struggling for the knife, she pushed the knife into his chest.

The deceased reportedly sustained a deep cut in his chest, which led to excessive blood loss and his eventual death.

He died before he could be taken to hospital by Onyinyechi and concerned neighbours.