The Oyo
State Police Command is currently battling to unravel the motive behind
the murder of a 21-year-old pregnant woman, Mrs Busola Afolabi-Haruna,
11 days after her wedding ceremony.
Late Busola had her Nikkah ceremony on Saturday, February 15, a day
after Valentine’s Day, in Ibadan, but had her life and that of her
unborn baby cut short with hot lead pumped into her skull from the gun
of unknown hoodlums on Wednesday, February 26.
The bullet reportedly
penetrated the skull and left a gaping hole at the nape of her neck,
with her brain tissues spattering all over the car seat she occupied.
New investigation reveal that her husband is kinda responsible for her death.
Saturday Tribune learnt that Busola’s husband, Mr Yemi Haruna, told
policemen at Oluyole Division, Ibadan, that at about 10.30p.m, he drove
his car towards their home at Elebu area of Ibadan, with his wife
occupying the front passenger seat. As he stepped out to open his
residence’s gate in order to drive in, according to him, three armed men
appeared from the dark and struggled to get his car key from him.
Haruna told the police that he quickly made for the car and
instructed his wife to lock her side of the door, but before he could
reach the car, one of the armed robbers aimed at his wife and shot her.
However, the parents and siblings of the deceased are crying foul,
saying that Busola was murdered for reasons best known to the
perpetrator(s).
According to Mrs Tosin Afolabi, elder sister of the deceased, “my
sister met her husband, Yemi Haruna, in 2013 and their relationship did
not last more than three months when she got pregnant. She celebrated
her 21st birthday in his house on July 4, 2013, after which she informed
my mother that she was pregnant. Her husband, Yemi, was invited by my
mother and she asked him of the kind of job he was doing. He replied
that he was into petroleum business.
“He also told her that he had never been married but we later learnt
that he had a wife who bore him a child but had packed out of his
house. Mummy called him again to ask if it was true and he replied in
the affirmative, saying that the relationship was not approved by her
family because the lady was a Christian.
“The wedding ceremony between Yemi and my sister took place on
Saturday, February 15, but on Monday, February 24, we got information
that he was not into petroleum business as he claimed. I asked my sister
and she became worried as she said it was a confirmation of what her
sister-in-law told her on her wedding day.
“At 10.46p.m. on Wednesday, February 26, her husband flashed my
number. I thought my sister was in labour and he didn’t have enough
airtime to call me, so I called him back. He said when he got to the
gate of his residence, he saw three young men emerge with gun. Yemi
added that he instructed my sister to wind up the glass on her side and
lock the door of the car. He said they shot my sister.
“I
asked him where my sister was but he cut off the line. I called him
back repeatedly but he didn’t pick my call until the third time. I
repeated my question and he replied that he didn’t know the hospital
because it was neighbours who took her to the hospital. He told me he
was at police station to obtain report and he cut the line.
“I called him again and he said he was told that my sister was taken
to Lad Hospital. Since the hospital is about five buildings away from my
residence, I went there. The security officer there told me that she
was dead and her body had been taken away. I screamed and pointed at the
husband’s car parked within the premises, but they said he went away
with the police.
“I left for my father’s place and we all returned to the hospital but
were not allowed in. We started calling Yemi again but he did not pick
our calls. My mother called Yemi’s mother to help us call him so that we
would know Busola’s condition. Yemi later picked my father’s call at
about 2:00a.m. and said he was at the police station and would get back
to us when he was through.
When we didn’t hear from him, we started calling him, but again, he
didn’t pick the calls. We gave his number to my elder brother and he
called Yemi at about 3:00a.m. Since Yemi was not familiar with his
number, he picked the call for two seconds and all my brother said he
heard was a ringing laughter at the background before he cut the line.
“At about 6.30a.m., on Thursday, he picked our call and when we
asked why he did not answer our previous calls, he said he forgot his
phones in a car. We told him to show up at the hospital because the
hospital staff said they would not release the corpse without the
presence of the person who brought it. He told us he was still at the
police station.
“Till my sister was taken from Lad Hospital to Teju Hospital, Ring
Road, to remove the foetus inside her, Yemi did not show up. My mother
and I decided to meet him at the police station and we were shocked when
we saw how they brought a table before him to eat. In annoyance, I
berated him for having the appetite to eat while my sister was yet to be
buried.
“When we closely observed the corpse of my sister, we noticed that
the bullets tore through the back of her head, believing that she was
shot in the mouth. We saw the empty cartridge shell in Yemi’s car and
part of Busola’s brain tissues on the seat where she sat.
“We also noticed her dress was torn but the police claimed they were
the ones who tore the dress when they wanted to examine her. Yemi did
not follow us to Teju Hospital where his wife was operated to remove the
foetus before burial.”
The father of the deceased, Alhaji Tajudeen Afolabi, also appealed to
Oyo State Police Command to help him unravel the mystery behind his
daughter’s death. He added that he believed his daughter was murdered.
“Where I am confused is this: Busola and her husband came together in
the car driven by him. He went to open the gate to go in when the armed
robbers emerged as he claimed. He that drove the car and was at the
gate was not shot; it was my daughter who sat in the car that was shot
at close range. The car was not taken away; no item was picked from the
car. That is why I am insisting that my daughter was not killed by armed
robbers; she was murdered.”
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Olabisi
Okuwobi-Ilobanafor, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said the command
was aware of the case, adding that the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr
Clement Adoda, had instructed that all the allegations raised be
investigated.