2.
WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG TO ISSUE A STATEMENT?
I.
We kept quiet out of respect
for the memory of the deceased.
II.
We kept quiet out of shock.
III.
We kept quiet out of
consideration for the feelings of our daughter whose grief was compounded by
the fact that she was taken into custody by the Police.
IV.
We kept quiet out of the belief
that the marriage produced two children (out of three confinements) who are
still infants, and who deserve a better memory of a father they will grow up
without knowing.
V.
We also kept quiet out of the
belief that we should not issue any statements in order not to prejudice Police
investigations into the matter in any way.
3.
WHO IS MRS. BUSAYO OLAFARE (NEE TAIWO)?
Busayo is the first child of
the family, she is thirty-one years old, has three siblings - an immediate younger
brother and a pair of twins one male and the other female. She is a double graduate
of Accountancy of the Yaba College of Technology and the University of Lagos.
She holds a Higher National Diploma and Bachelors Degree respectively of the
two top higher institutions in Lagos. She works in one of the top financial
institutions in Lagos. Raised in a solid Christian home, her passion for God is
not in question, and as said earlier, she has two children, who are infants, a
male and female, with her late husband.
4.
WAS SEUN’S FAMILY IMMEDIATELY INFORMED OF HIS SUICIDE?
On getting to the late
Seun and Busayo’s residence, we asked if his family had been informed, and the neighbours
confirmed that Seun’s family had been informed of his death. Specifically, we
were told that his father had been informed but that he said he did not believe
them, and that they couldn’t be talking about his son. Right there in our
presence, his father was called again severally without any positive response
from him. Whilst we appreciate that shock could have made him act strangely - he
was obviously in a state of denial - it
is certainly not true that he was not informed of Seun’s death! He was informed
immediately it happened!
5.
WAS SEUN’S CORPSE REALLY TAKEN TO THE MORGUE WITHOUT HIS FAMILY’S
“CONSENT”?
The neighbours who helped to rush him to
the hospital were the ones who took his body from the hospital where he died to
the mortuary at Gbagada General Hospital, which was the sensible thing to do. It
is a fact that he did not die in the house; that was why he was rushed to the
hospital in the first place. The neighbours were with the corpse in the
mortuary premises all this while; the body was in the vehicle that took it
there and had not yet been deposited in the morgue.
Back in the house, Busayo and members of
our family waited for Seun’s family who did not show up, to the extent that the
neighbours who were with his body started fretting and calling for members of
the family to come to the mortuary to take possession of his body. Their
landlord came back from the mortuary, and being an old man needed to rest and
take his drugs, he did all this in the house, and still held on to the death
certificate without which the body cannot be accepted in the mortuary. We
waited and waited but no one from his family showed up. As time wore on,
ambient temperature was rising and everyone started worrying that the body by
now ought to have been deposited in the morgue, still not one of his family
members had shown up.
Finally, we all moved to the mortuary
where we were told that there was no longer space for the body. Their
neighbours naturally were no longer prepared to go further and insisted that
the body be transferred to another vehicle. One of Seun’s friends offered his
car and we all made our way to the Mainland Hospital Yaba. Even here we waited
for members of his family to show up. The body was not brought down from the
car though we were not comfortable with the rising temperature. Finally, we
heard that members of his family were on the way, and when they arrived, they saw
the body which was still in the car that took it to the mortuary. After the
protocols for admitting the body was completed, one of Seun’s siblings,
Babalola, signed the papers to admit his corpse to the morgue. Seun’s father and a host of his family
members and friends were present in or around the morgue!
6.
DID BUSAYO TRY TO RUN AWAY?
Nothing
could be more ridiculous than suggesting that she tried to run away! After
leaving the mortuary, knowing that suicide is reportable, she was accompanied
by her uncle, siblings and other members of her family to voluntarily report
the incident at the Oworonsoki Police Station. We made it clear to the Police
that we were taking her to our family house, the address and phone numbers were
supplied.
It
was AFTER reporting at the Police Station that we went back to the house to
pick her clothes and some of the things needed by her infant children. This is
because she and her children had nothing else except what they were wearing. Being
bereaved in such a sudden and tragic manner, it was inconceivable to leave her
alone in their rented apartment, with two infants, (one barely a year old and
the other just over two years old). Considering the emotional trauma she was
going through, it was more convenient to take her away to her family house.
Objective members of the public should ask themselves whether it would make
sense to leave her alone in her state of mind.
As
we write, Busayo is in her third week in Police custody instead of mourning her
husband; her two infant children who have lost their father are now being
denied of motherly comfort and love.
Where
would Busayo have run to? She has a career job and two infant children. Her maternal
and paternal family houses are both located in Somolu, and it was one of these
addresses that was given to the Police at Oworonsoki. Suggesting that she would
run away is suggesting that her whole family, her uncles and aunts and their
families who live in that house would run away.
CONCLUSION
1.
The family stands by Busayo’s
story and we have no reasons whatsoever to doubt her.
2.
Busayo did not attempt to
escape and will not under any circumstances do so as there is no reason to do
so.
3.
We are waiting for the Police to
conclude their investigations as quickly as possible.
4.
We will take any and all steps necessary
to protect her rights and interests, and those of her infant children.
5.
We thank everyone who has stood
by us and Busayo all this while and we know that by the Grace of God, this
storm will blow over. This is a dark period in our daughter’s life; we know it
will be morning yet.
6.
We pray for the repose of
Seun’s soul and plead with almighty God to forgive him his sins and grant him eternal
grace.
7.
It is well with his soul, it is
well with us all!
The
Taiwo Family
0803
859 7944 and
0809
859 7944
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