‘I hear voices in prison asking me to kill somebody’

A 41-year-old man, Nurudeen Bakare, standing trial for the murder of his mother, has told a Lagos High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square that he has been hearing voices asking him to kill somebody in prison.

Nurudeen, who lived abroad for 12 years, is standing trial before Justice Modupe Nico-Clay.

The defendant was 37-year-old when he allegedly killed his mother, Abosede, 65, by stabbing her with a kitchen knife.

When the case came up before the court for the commencement of trial on Thursday, the defendant, who was brought from the Ikoyi Custodial Centre, said he was a psychiatric patient.

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He said, “I have been hearing voices in the prison that I should kill somebody. It is my mother’s voice that I have been hearing that I must kill somebody in the cell. I even attempted to kill somebody last month on October 11 at the Ikoyi prison.”

 Justice Nico-Clay asked him to stop talking, called a prison official into the courtroom and instructed him to keep the defendant away from other inmates.

The judge adjourned the case till February 2, 2023, for the commencement of trial.

Nurudeen was arraigned before the court on June 27, 2022, four years after he allegedly killed his mother by stabbing her in her stomach and neck.

He is facing one count of murder preferred against him by the Lagos State Government.

The state prosecuting counsel, Mrs Titilayo Olanrewaju-Daudu, told the court that the incident occurred on June 6, 2018, around 11pm, at 49, Oremeji Street, Ilasamaja, in the Mushin area of Lagos State.

Bakare was first remanded by a Yaba Chief Magistrates’ Court on July 4, 2018.

The prosecutor, Modupe Olaluwoye, a police sergeant, had told the court that the defendant had an argument with his 65-year-old mother, Bosede, over his inherited property.

“My Lord, during the argument, he grabbed a knife and stabbed her in her stomach and neck.

“During questioning, he admitted to committing the offence and even signed a confessional statement,” Olaluwoye said.