A
lecturer at the Lagos State University, Gbenga Oyeniyi, says his insistence
that his daughter must live with him was not what caused the death of the
two-year-old, as alleged by the wife, Adenike.
Gbenga
said Racheal’s death on the same day he took her from her mother was
accidental, adding that she died a natural death.
It had been reported
that Rachael had been living with her mother, Adenike, in the Abeokuta area of
Ogun State.
However,
after a disagreement between the couple, Gbenga forcibly took her on Monday,
April 18, to his rented apartment on Jezza Street, in the Egbeda area of Lagos.
A
few hours after, Rachael reportedly fell into an abandoned well in the house
and was recovered dead.
Her
mother, however, called on the police to investigate the matter, saying the
death was suspicious.
But
Gbenga, who initially said he would not talk about the incident, said he did
not kill his daughter.
He
said, “I have been married to my wife for four years now. Since we got married,
we have been living separately. I live in Egbeda, Lagos, while my wife
had been living in Abeokuta, Ogun State, because she is a civil servant.
“I
asked her to ask for a transfer to a place that is close, like Sango Ota, but
she said she would not be due for transfer until December 2015.
“But
for six weeks, she did not bring my daughter to me in Lagos because my
father-in-law instructed her not to. So, on Monday, April 18, I decided to take
my daughter to Lagos.
“When
I got home, my daughter’s friends were very happy to see her. She started
playing with them. I instructed my younger sister to monitor her. I later went
out of my room to stay outside in order to also monitor her.
“She
was playing with her friends on the premises. Not long after, some of her mates
came running to me, saying she had fallen inside an abandoned well in the
compound.”
Gbenga
said he ran to the scene and mobilised some people to enter the well to bring out
his child.
After
several failed attempts, he said the state fire service was invited, adding
that the agency could not bring Rachael out due to “ineffectual equipment.”
“One
Egun man was invited by a sympathiser,
and he brought her out. People said she was dead, but I took her to the Igando
General Hospital where the doctors tried to revive her. After some efforts, the
leader of the team announced that she was dead.
“I
immediately reported at the Gowon Estate Police Station. But by 6.30am on
Tuesday, some policemen from Alagbado followed my father-in-law to arrest me.
Later, when they saw the matter was not under their jurisdiction, they handed
it over to the Divisional Police Officer in Gowon Estate, who then mediated and
advised the parties to maintain the peace,” he added.
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