bolaji Adebayo
The parents of the 11 years old Favour Okechukwu who was raped to death in Ejigbo in September, 2020 have continued to mourn while still nursing the pain of losing a first born of the family as they have started losing the hope of getting justice for their late daughter.
The parents alleged foul play in the case as they wait endlessly for the result of the autopsy conducted on their late daughter in November, 2020.
ECHONEWS broke the news of the death of Favour who was allegedly ganged raped to death by some hoodlums in her community at Ejigbo in September last year.
ECHONEWS reported that little Favour Okechukwu, a JSS 3 student of Deo-Lively Stone International School, was sent on an errand on Wednesday, September 30, 2020 by her mother to buy packs of gala but did not return home.
Her father, Mr. John Okechukwu, who came back from work later in the day, searched everywhere for her but to no avail.
She was later found dead in a shack located under Power Line at No 4, Olanrewaju Street, Ejigbo on Thursday, October 1, 2020.
Favour Ikechukwu, the eldest child of the five children of the family, had dreamt to be a pilot and or engineer.
However, the dream was cut short by the act of the rapists.
Subsequently, the owner of the shack known as Tabi (a.k.a Tboy) was arrested to fish out the perpetrators.
It was reported that some arrests were made after the death of Favour by the officers of Ejigbo Divisional Police led by the then DPO, Olabisi Okuwobi.
The Lagos Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, who later paid a visit to the bereaved parents at their residence on Wednesday, October 6, 2020, vowed to fish out the perpetrators as he directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Criminal Investigation Department, DCP Yetunde Longe, who accompanied him, to deploy additional detectives from her office to go after the fleeing culprits and subject them to prosecution as soon as possible.
While vowing to get to the root of the matter, the CP promised the family of police’s constant support as he reiterated his zero tolerance on crimes in Lagos State.
The father of the deceased has however decried delayed justice for her daughter about four months after her death.
He told ECHONEWS that the police are not carrying the family along in the case any longer.
Mr. Okechukwu, who alleged foul play in the matter, lamented the delay in the result of the autopsy carried out on his late daughter.
According to him, the result was supposed to be ready after two weeks but has been delayed since November last year.
He explained that he was told to take the corpse from Isolo General Hospital to Ikeja General Hospital for the autopsy on November 18, 2020.
He said he later succeeded in retrieving the corpse from the mortuary and took it to Ikeja where the autopsy was carried out after spending some amount of money.
“The doctor who did the autopsy told me that the result would be ready in two weeks. I was asked to return the corpse to Isolo mortuary which I did. After the two weeks, I called the doctor but he said the result was still not ready without giving me any tangible reason for the delay of the result, telling me to wait for another one week.
“But up till now, I have not received the result. I even called the doctor two days ago but told me that the result is still not ready two months after the autopsy. He even told me I was disturbing him.
“I suffered before I could take the corpse from Isolo to Ikeja. After going to Panti for almost a month, they later asked me to go to the mortuary at Isolo. I was referred to the Doctor at Ikeja General Hospital who told me that they lacked personnel that I should on my own go to Isolo to make arrangement to bring the corpse to Ikeja which I did. I paid all I was asked to pay. The Doctor told me to stay while the autopsy was being carried out. I stayed the whole day and I was asked to take the corpse back to Isolo.”
“Forensic investigation was also carried out in the environment where my daughter was killed in October but we never have any result till date.”
“In fact, they have turned the case upside down, we don’t know what is happening again. But all I want is justice.”
Meanwhile, the Lagos Police Command said it has arrested six male and one female suspects in connection with the rape who have been charged to court.
The Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the suspects, including Ajom Princewill (male, 37 years); Aliu Adesola Bilyamin, 24 years; Emmanuel Okon, 24 years; Bolarinwa Olamilekan, 24 years; Badmus Abdullatif, 20 years; Quadri Azeez, 22 years; Sunday Odunayo, aka Walter, 22 years and 41 years old Omobolanle Olowookere, the only female among the, have been charged to Magistrate Court on 3-count charges bordering on conspiracy, defilement and murder.
According to him, the suspects were arraigned at Magistrate Court 3, Ebute Metta on October 30, 2020.
However, Mr. Okechukwu said the police did not inform him or any of his family about the arraignment of the suspects.
He explained that the female suspect, who was alleged to be the ‘god mother’ for the perpetrators of the heinous act, was released on bail the day they were taken to the court contrary to the agreement made with him by the police.
He said when the suspects were taken to the court, the police did not call him until after the court had closed in the afternoon when his uncle was called that the suspects were being taken to the court.
“When my uncle got there, the court had closed. It was later we got to know that the woman had been granted N500,000 bail. She was asked to vacate the community.
“She was living in the compound where my daughter was raped. We also learned that she is a nurse and that she backed those guys. She was the one who injected their victims. She injected my own daughter as well after which she died.
“It was one of the suspects who confessed at Ejigbo police station that revealed the role of the woman in the incident before she was arrested.
“When the incident happened, the then DPO of Ejigbo was trying for us and she assured us of getting justice and that was when she arrested some of the suspects. But after she was transfered out of this community and the case was transfered to Panti, there has been fowl play.
“I called the IPO at Panti and he assured me that they would come to me. He promised that they would always inform us as the case is going on. Only for them not to inform us that they were taking the suspects to court and granting the woman bail contrary to our agreement.
“When I learned that the woman has been granted bail, I called my lawyer who filed a petition against the police. He also requested that the case be transferred from Ebute Metta to Ikeja. We hope that the case would be heard next in Ikeja. We have bit been given date for the next hearing though.”
When asked what he really wants from the case, Okechukwu said: “Justice, I want justice. I want all the perpetrators to be brought to book to serve as deterrent to others. How would they grant a prime suspect a bail like that without our consent? It is not good enough, that means the justice is being tampered.”
Meanwhile Okechukwu was silent on whether the remains of her daughter has
