Grief for the loss of a child is one of the strongest of human emotions that lives forever in the minds of the parents. It is more compounded when the child is an adult. Such is the life of Mr and Mrs Abbe, parents of Demola who was killed by a trigger happy police officer in Yaya Abatan, Ogba, Lagos at the wake of the protest against the removal of petrol subsidy.
Still riddled with shock when Saturday Vanguard visited last Wednesday, the duo were speechless. They could only ask whether their son had been buried. Far away in Ilesa, Osun state they demanded that the killer of their son be brought to book for justice to be done.
Demola Abbe, 26, was one of the five children of Mr. And Mrs Abbe in Ilesa, Imo, in Atakumosa Local Government of Osun State. He was known as Aderinto because since he was brought to Lagos nine years ago by his mentor, Moses Daramola, he had been staying with the Aderinto family who took him as their son.
The guardian, Madam Alice Aderinto, told Saturday Vanguard in her Aderinto street, Ogba that losing Demola was a huge loss to her and the family, noting that authorities should ensure that the killer was given the same dose of what he meted to Demola. “We all know that anyone found guilty of murder will be killed. So, our demand is that justice be done and the world will see that justice is done. He should be killed,” adding that compensation should be paid to the family.
Narrating how the incident occured, the 90-year-old woman said: “On that fateful day, sequel to the commencement of the strike, we all decided to stay at home.
He had a motocycle and he said he was going out early in the morning to work with his motorcycle (Okada). He went and he returned before 8am. His roomate reminded him that they had been warned not to go out and he agreed. At a point, he said he wanted to go and see something outside. His roommate called him back and I heard the call about three times, but he refused.
After a while, I sent somebody to go look for him. There, he said he was coming. The boy that went to call him hardly returned home when we heard sporadic gun shots. We didn’t know he had been shot. But after some minutes, somebody from the neighbourhood came to inform us that Demola had been shot. They all rushed out. But I can’t walk. He was such a nice boy. His father and mother were immediately informed,” she said.
Demola’s room-mate, Opeyemi Aderinto also said justice must be done. He said that the happy-trigger DPO who was deployed to the area recently had boasted to some people while coming from Ishaga that morning that he was going to be brutal with them. “We heard that the DPO who shot Demola and others was coming from Ishaga and we were told that he met some people at Haruna and warned them to leave the streets or else he would kill them. We also heard that he was linked to killing somebody the previous day. People don’t like him in Agege. Our demand is that we want justice done on this matter. We want an open prosecution because this is a case against the police. So, we don’t want a cover up situation,” he said.
Opeyemi said the deceased was not playing ball when the incident happened contrary to reports. He said: “He worked briefly with his okada that morning and returned home. Long after he parked his motorcycle at home, he went outside at Yaya Abatan. There, discussing with a group of boys, not quite long, the police came. They started shooting sporadically.
The killer police officer collected the gun from his junior officer who was also shooting. He shot at the group of boys standing. Demola was among them and he immediately ran and fell somewhere close. It was there he realised the extent of the wound. Five people were shot but he died before he got to the hospital. Contrary to report, he was not playing ball, he was only standing and discussing with some of the boys while other boys in the street were playing ball.” Others according to him were Monday, Abubakar, Samuel and Ejiofor.
Comrade Raji Rashid, a youth leader in the community commended the Local Government Chairman, Hon Oloruntoba, who he said has done a lot to ensure that the police officer is brought to book. He noted that the chairman with one Hon Dayo Fafunmi, have been responsible for the hospital bill of the other four. He disclosed that the autopsy report was ready and all the important personalities and bodies in the case had been given copies of the report.
On the report, he said Demola was hit somewhere around his private part. He said he could not interpret other details of the report but maintained that even if he did not die immediately, he most probably would not have survived it. “He was hit around his private part, but you know I’m not a medical person. It can best be interpreted by experts, but by my own lay man inference, if at all he survived, he might have serious problem in life. It is unfortunate that he died,” he said. The police, the council chairman, the state Public Prosecution all have their copies of the report. The medical director of LASUTH conducted the autopsy. He was taken to the nearest hospital and it was at the point of referral that he gave up.
On the burial arrangement, Raji said: “I believe strongly that Demola should be immortalised. I think a structure should be erected in his village to immortalise him. It is my own idea and I have been selling that idea to people. That will be a befitting gift for him for loosing his life in the struggle against petrol subsidy removal. He paid the supreme price and it behoves on all of us to immortalise him appropriately and it will go to show the parents that the boy did not die in vain,” he noted.
Raji continued that fixing a date for the burial has to be colledctive decision of stakeholders in the area. “It is only the local government chairman and other prominent peole in the area that will decide when and how it will be held. But I think consultation is still going on. I was with the Chairman when somebody asked whether Demola was a politician, the answer he gave was that ‘It is not only politicians that he is responsible to. He said he is responsible to every body in the local government, that the welfare of every body is important to him.’ that is to tell you how important the situation is before the chairman of the local government area,” he said.
Demola’s mentor, Moses Daramola who brought him to Lagos said when he broke the news to the parents, they were devasted. “It was very shocking and devastating to his parents when I called them on phone to break the news to them. They are still battling emotions on the incident. I’m in touch with them, the last time I spoke with them, they managed to ask me whether he has been buried. You know the idea that parents aren’t supposed to outlive their children, they dont want to see the corpse of their son. So they asked whether he has been buried? But I told them that the state and local governments are taking up the case and it would not be so soon. In fact, they will fix the date of burial,” he said.
Daramola stated that he knew Demola from the age of ten and brought him to Lagos about eight years ago. “I brought him from home, Ilesha about nine years ago. He is hard working and very energetic. He bought Okada on hire purchase, paid the money and owned it within stipulated time.
He was a good fashion designer, quiet and easy going felllow. He had plans, his next plan was to settle down by March, get his own apartment and look forward to getting hooked,” he hinted.
Madam Alice Aderinto also stressed that Demola joined the Aderinto family about seven years: “Demola came to Lagos eight years ago from Ilesha, Osun State. He had been staying with me since the last seven years. We employed him as a tailor and we pay him monthly. He was meek and gentle, he had never fought with anybody. No one knew that he was not my biological son. I also treated him like my own son. You can never know the difference in them.” she said.
May his soul rest in peace. May the Lord grant your family the fortitude to bear the loss.
SHOLA BALOGUN& EBUN SESSOU
No comments:
Post a Comment