Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The meeting was supposed to help her. That is what Kehinde Onizeokaraga was told when she was invited to the residence of her father’s friend in the Dallimore area of Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, on the morning of Wednesday, September 9, 2026. Her marriage had been unravelling for months. She had left her husband, Ibrahim Sodiq, a meat seller known in the community as Alfa Eleran, after what sources described as irreconcilable differences. She was preparing to leave Ado-Ekiti altogether, planning to travel to her sister’s residence in Idoani, Ondo State, the following day. But before she could go, there was one final attempt to resolve the dispute. A friend of her father, identified as Lamidi Salawu, had offered to mediate. His wife called Kehinde and told her that Lamidi wanted to see her. Kehinde went. She did not know that her husband would be there.
The mediation meeting began, and for a brief moment, it may have appeared that the couple might find a way forward. But the conversation quickly turned heated. The disagreement escalated into a physical confrontation. And then, according to multiple accounts from police sources and family members, Ibrahim Sodiq pulled out a machete and attacked his wife repeatedly, inflicting severe injuries that killed her. She died on the spot. The suspect fled the scene immediately, leaving behind a body, a shattered family, and a community struggling to understand how a meeting meant to heal a marriage had become the setting for a brutal murder.
Kehinde was 25 years old. She and her husband hailed from Kogi State, and they had been living in Ado-Ekiti, where Sodiq worked as a butcher. The marriage had been troubled for some time. A source who spoke to journalists described the situation that led to the fatal attack: “I am aware they had issues in the marriage to the extent that the lady had left the man’s house due to some irreconcilable differences. But recently, there were efforts by the suspect to resolve the issue with her, which the deceased was not comfortable with.” That discomfort, it now appears, was justified. Kehinde had been planning to leave the marriage permanently. Her cousin, Lawrence Yusuf, who spoke on behalf of the family, alleged that she had become suspicious of her husband’s activities. One detail he shared was particularly unsettling: she had noticed that her clothes and underwear were disappearing from the house. She had decided to leave, telling her husband she was travelling to her sister’s place for work. The trip to Idoani was scheduled for Thursday. She never made it.
The Ekiti State Police Command has confirmed the incident and said the Commissioner of Police, Michael Falade, has ordered a thorough investigation to ensure that the perpetrator is apprehended and brought to justice. The Police Public Relations Officer, Sunday Abutu, confirmed the killing and said the command was working to arrest the fleeing suspect. The body of the deceased has been deposited in a morgue. But the suspect, Ibrahim Sodiq, remains at large. Yusuf alleged that some persons had been taken into police custody in connection with the incident, including Lamidi Salawu, his wife, and the man who stood as Ibrahim’s father during the couple’s wedding ceremony. The family also alleged that Ibrahim fled with Kehinde’s mobile phone, which they believe contains information that could assist the police investigation.
The family is devastated. “We want Sodiq to be found and arrested. We want justice for Kehinde. Her parents are in pain, and my family is in serious agony. She didn’t deserve this,” Yusuf said. The family has also urged the police to investigate everyone allegedly connected with the circumstances surrounding Kehinde’s death and to establish their respective roles in the incident. Their grief is compounded by the fact that the man accused of killing their daughter, cousin, and friend is still free, and the phone that might hold evidence of what happened is in his possession.
This is not an isolated tragedy. It is part of a broader pattern of domestic violence that continues to claim the lives of women across Nigeria. The National Bureau of Statistics has reported that one in three Nigerian women has experienced physical violence, and domestic violence is a leading cause of female homicide. In Ekiti State, the case has reignited conversations about the adequacy of protection for women in abusive marriages and the failure of mediation efforts that prioritise reconciliation over safety. Kehinde did everything she was supposed to do. She left the house. She made plans to relocate. She agreed to a mediation meeting in the hope that it might resolve the conflict peacefully. And still, she was killed. The question that her family and the public are asking is simple: what more could she have done? The police investigation will seek to answer that question, but it will not bring Kehinde back. What it can do, if it is thorough and transparent, is send a message that domestic violence will not be tolerated and that men who kill their wives will be held accountable. For now, the search for Ibrahim Sodiq continues, and a family waits for justice. The machete that ended Kehinde’s life is in police custody. The man who allegedly wielded it is not.
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