Forty-five-year-old farmer, Adegbenga Ogunfadeke tells DAUD OLATUNJI the circumstance that led to the death of his two children
What is your occupation?
I am into farming and also a herbalist
How old are you?
I am 45 years old
How many wives do you have?
I have two wives, but one has left me.
When did she leave?
She left 10 years ago
How many children did she have for you?
She had four children for me.
How many years did you spend together as a couple?
We spent eight years together.
Why did she leave?
We fought everyday.
What caused the fight?
She cheated. Whenever I was not around, she brought men to my house.
Did she take the children along with her?
No, she left them with me.
What are their names?
They are Dasola, Yusuf, Wasiu and Princess.
How old are they?
Dasola is 18 years old; Yusuf would have been 15 years old if he didn’t die. Wasiu is 13 years old, while Princess should be around 11 years old.
For how long have you been with your second wife?
It should be up to five years.
What is her name?
She is Fatima
Is she still with you?
She’s not with me; after my children died, I took her to her mother’s place.
How many children did you have left?
I have two now.
Was she responsible for their death?
No, she wasn’t. We just relocated to where we are presently due to the incident.
What caused their death?
I was very sick and I didn’t have money or phone. The children too were sick, but we had the opportunity to take one to the hospital, but she died there at Evergreen (Hospital) in Ijebu Ode.
How many children did your second wife have for you?
She bore a child for me.
How old is the child?
The child is four years old.
Where are you living?
I was living at Ilefon in Ijebu-Ode before I relocated.
How many years did you spend living there?
We lived there for over two years.
Was it your house or a rented apartment?
It was a rented one.
Where did you move to from there?
We moved to Ijebu in our home town, Abule Gbeguda, Ogun waterside.
Is that where you’re currently living?
Yes.
Did you move in with your second wife?
No I moved in with my male child alone, but when he finished Primary Six, he came to Ibiade.
Is it true that you killed two of your children?
I didn’t kill any of my children; they got sick.
But it was said that you chained and starved them to death. What can you say about this?
God knows they fell sick and I tried, I took one to the hospital. During that time, I was also sick and I had nothing; I had no phone too.
But investigation showed that you starved them to death.
Even the neighbours told the security men during that time that for almost a year, we didn’t have anything to eat, we were just trying. Even when I got sick, it was God that saved me; it was during COVID-19 time, we couldn’t go out and I didn’t have a phone.
Are you not a farmer? Don’t you have a farm?
Yes, we do, but it was after we left the first place that I started farming.
What about your friend? Couldn’t they have helped you?
We do visit some of my colleagues who are herbalists, but we did not visit every day.
You are an able bodied man, why didn’t you get a job when you were hungry?
Yes, I was very sick, I couldn’t walk, let alone working.
What was the nature of your sickness?
I was just sick; I got lean and I purged for a week and the thinking of how my children would survive too added to it. If not, I’m not a lazy man.
When did your children die?
They died in the year 2020.
That was three years ago; why were you just arrested?
Yes, during that time, their mother wasn’t with me, and I didn’t have any phone to get across to her. So, when she arrived, she asked for her children and I explained to her. Then she accused me of killing her because we were no longer together.
Did they die on the same day?
No, one died in April and one died at the end of July in 2020.
What caused their death?
Hunger and sickness put together caused their death. When I took them to the hospital, the doctor told me they needed blood; so, I asked them to still take care of them. I later went sourcing for the money. I could not get any help.
Amotekun said they were in the habit of stealing and that was why you chained them. Is this true?
I didn’t chain them; there was a time when one of my children went to steal. He didn’t come home for three days, and I looked for him. Eventually, he came home and for him not to run away again, I locked him in for three days. Later, he begged me and said he won’t do it again. So, I released him and we lived peacefully ever since. For two months, he didn’t fall sick and we were managing.
When they died, what happened afterwards?
I fell very sick. During that time, someone came from Delta; we knew each other there at my in-law’s place. So, I begged him to help bury the one that died. If we said we would take the body to a cemetery, they would collect money and we have not even seen money to feed.
What is the name of the one that survived?
His name is Wasiu.
It was said that Wasiu had some marks on his head which were inflicted on him by you. Is this true?
No. Truly, I beat him, I cannot lie. I have been arrested and taken to this place already. So, I can’t lie, but its more than 10 places where he has gone to steal and they beat him there and I wouldn’t be able to complain. Last month, he stole my mother’s N5,000 and took it to school. They brought him home for us and we asked where he got the money from, then my mum said it was hers. That’s how he steals everywhere.
But Wasiu also said you chained his older ones till they died
It’s a lie; when they got to the hospital, there was no mark on their body. It was their mother that asked them to implicate me; the woman took Wasiu in for a whole week to teach him everything, just because we are not together again. I was the one that sent them to school.
Where did you bury the ones that died?
I told them to help me bury them at Ilefon in Ijebu Ode, where we were living then.
But there was no trace of them being buried there when the security operatives checked; how come?
Yes, the place was full of bush at my backyard; so, the place has been cleared. That was why we couldn’t recognize their tombs.
How were you arrested?
They (the Amotekun Corps) met me at the village and said they wanted to see me and I followed them.
But Amotekun’s report revealed that you chained them; is it not better for you to confess?
I didn’t chain them, though I locked one of them up, and it was for some days because I was advised to monitor them. And also, if not because I was not feeling fine, I would have worked and they wouldn’t have died of hunger.
What caused your sickness?
One, there was no food, and during COVID-19 time, everything just came up; headache with fever and other sorts of things. I purged for almost a week and I couldn’t go out.
Why didn’t you ask your neighbours for help?
We were strangers and new then in the area, though we visited one old man once in a while, I couldn’t go out, so anything she brought, we managed. Sometimes, they go to farm to cut and sell wood. I couldn’t go; I couldn’t leave my house at all for four months. After the incident, we decided to go to Ijebu.
What offence did the second wife commit?
It was not as if she committed much crime, I intentionally took her and Wasiu away to her mother’s place. I even followed them in the first instance when we got there. To avoid thinking about my children, I started drinking alcohol. So, one night, around 11pm, I decided to leave the place. Because, she would leave the house with her mother around 9am, and come back around 9pm, I got irritated and left.
Where do you get money for the drink?
Then, I started drinking at my in-law’s place. I asked her for N200 every time, because she didn’t know what I wanted to use it for. I used the money to drink; I didn’t eat. Sometimes, whenever they went to pick snails, we sold them and I used the remaining money for drink.
When she noticed that I drink too much, she asked if I would leave with my wife? I insisted on her staying and leaving with my son, Wasiu.
What was the impact of the alcohol?
You know that I trained the children from when they were very little, and they died just like that. I couldn’t hold it. Their mother didn’t ask for her children for good 10 years until last month when she came back to challenge me.
What class were the children before their death?
Yusuf was in Primary Three, while Princess was in Primary One.
So, what do you have to say?
I have belief in God and I know that God knows I tried my best for the children. He (God) knows I didn’t kill them, though I know my effort wasn’t enough.
After their death, did you meet any family members of your first wife?
Then, I was on the sick bed for four months and I couldn’t go out. It was when the guy from Delta State came and I asked him to help me to bury one of them, and that I wanted to collect death certificate for them.
What do you want the government to do for you?
They should show mercy on me; they should help me and have pity on me. I have been taking care of them since their mother left them. I pay their school fees. So, God sees my heart.
What made you to start taking alcohol?
I started taking alcohol due to the depression from the death of those children because I was the one that brought them up to that age. I took custody of them from their mother when they were still minor and their mother never bothered to ask about them for about 10 years until last month when she came to challenge me about their whereabouts. I told her that two out of the four children had died and she said she would expose me to the world and that I was the one that killed them.
Which of the children died?
It was Yusuf and Princess that died. Yusuf was in Basic Three, while Princess was in Basic One.
Now that you have been arrested, what do you plan to do?
God saw me that I tried my best for my children and God sees me that I am not the one that killed them but it was my effort that wasn’t enough.
What step did you take to save your children before they died?
I had health issues when they died; I was at home for about four months and I couldn’t go out. It was one of my friends, who arrived from Delta, that I had to plead with to help me bury Yusuf at the back of the compound and that I would go and get their death certificates later.
Did you bury both of them inside the same compound?
Yes, it was inside the same compound that I buried them because they died at a time not far from each other. One died in April, while the other died in July. After six months of their death, I was unable to go to Ogun waterside; it is usually my wife that goes out to look for what we will eat.
What do you want the government to do for you?
I believe mercy is with God and also in the hands of the government; they should be lenient with me because I was the one that brought up these children since their mother left and when they were still kids up to when they grew to that age. God sees me that I never wished those children evil.
How did you recover from your sickness?
During that period, whenever we sold something, we will eat the money we made and I always ask the children to get different herbs and cook different concoctions for me till I recovered fully.
Who buried the second child?
It was a Hausa guy that I begged to help me buried Princess, but he said he would have to collect money.
How much did he collect?
He requested for N5,000 but I had to beg him to collect N2,000. I had to be paying him in installments. So, I was able to pay him just N200 and when he saw that I did not have any money, he didn’t come back to ask for the money again.
