A Chief Magistrates’ Court sitting in Ondo town, headquarters of Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State, has remanded a 40-year-old woman, Abiodun Oluyade, in a correctional centre for killing her 86-year-old mother, Olawanle Oluyade.

The suspect, who was accused of committing the crime on June 13, 2024, at Okedoko axis of Ondo town, was said to have poured petrol on her mother while she was cooking in the kitchen, before setting her on fire.

With the plea of the defendant not taken by Magistrate Mosunmola Ikujuni, the prosecution informed the court that the offences contravened Section 315 and were punishable under Section 319 of the Criminal Code, Cap. 37, Volume 1, Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria, 2006.

The defendant, Abiodun, blamed her action on the devil.

“It was the handwork of the devil, although something told me to do it, and I will be free. Please forgive me; my son and my husband are sick. There’s nobody to take care of them,” she told the magistrate.

The Police Prosecutor, Inspector Moremi Akao, however, applied for a date for the issuance of advice from the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).

Following the application, the magistrate remanded the defendant in a female correctional centre.

Magistrate Ikujuni, who directed that the case file should be sent to the Ministry of Justice for advice, adjourned the case till August 5, 2024, for DPP’s advice.