Punch Metro
learnt that the police arrested the victim’s father, Sunday Ajakaye, a
mechanic, and Sunday’s 65-year-old mother, after the boy’s mother, Mary,
accused them of complicity in the death.
A
two-year-old boy, Eniola Ajakaye, lost his life, drowned inside a drum of water
while holidaying with his grandmother in Aboru, in the Iyana Ipaja area of
Lagos State.They were reportedly detained at the Oke Odo Police Division for
alleged murder.
A resident,
who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Eniola drowned around 2pm on
Foursquare
Street, Ago
40 Estate, where his grandma lived.
He said,
“The woman
had gone out for a church programme, leaving him with some other children who
had come to holiday with her.
“She was
called on the telephone that the boy was missing. People searched for him for
hours without any success.
“When it was
evening, a woman said she saw something inside a water drum in the house. “When
they checked the drum, they found Eniola there.” The boy was reportedly taken
to a private hospital in the area where he was confirmed dead.
Another
resident, Jide Thompson, said the family took the dead child back to the house
and invited some pastors to bring him back to life, adding that all the effort
was in vain.
It was learnt
that Mary’s family did not believe the account of the grandmother as they
insisted that there was more to the death than meet the eye, adding that the
Ajakaye family had a case to answer.
The police
subsequently arrested the grandma, Sunday and another relative who reportedly
raised the alarm when the boy went missing.
Investigation
by Punch’s correspondent showed that there had been bad blood between the two
families since Mary became pregnant with Eniola.
Their
correspondent learnt from a source that Sunday had rejected Eniola’s pregnancy.
He said,
“The man is a
mechanic and can barely fend for himself. When Mary, his lover, became
pregnant, he rejected the pregnancy.
“When Eniola
was born, Sunday’s mother took the responsibility for his upkeep and was always
sending money to Mary’s family.” The source explained that the grandma later
took custody of the child after a major disagreement, adding that Mary returned
some weeks later to take back the child.
“However,
Mary called the woman one day, saying she was returning Eniola to the grandma.
“The girl
took the child to the woman’s church and dropped him there. The grandma picked
the child from the church and handed over to the police station,” he added.The
police allegedly called the two families and gave custody of the child to the
father.
It was learnt
that the grandma handed over the child to her first child, who became his
guardian.
PUNCH Metro
was told that the guardian had brought him back to the grandma, along with some
other children of the family, for holiday when tragedy struck.
A relative
told their correspondent that the grandma was devastated when the boy was found
in the drum.
“She invited
pastors to pray for the child, but nothing happened. When it was getting late,
around 10pm, we reported the matter to the police and after making statements,
the corpse was deposited in a morgue,” he added.
He explained
that after much persuasion Mary’s mother dropped the case against the family. He,
however, expressed surprise that the police were taking up the matter again.
A police
source said the police had closed the case file when Mary’s mother demanded
that the matter be revived.
The source
said,
“The primary
issue is that the two families are at loggerheads. After asking that the case
be withdrawn, Mary’s mother said her family went to take the boy’s clothes and
was told that they had been burnt and there was nothing left of the boy’s
property. She said the man’s family knew about the death for being in haste to
forget the victim.”
Punch
No comments:
Post a Comment