Omotayo Adekolure, brother of the late Glory Adekolure, a final year student of the University of Benin who was raped and killed in Benin, Edo State, on June 13, 2024, in this interview with ADEYINKA ADEDIPE, says the family has yet to get over the death of the promising girl. Excerpts:
Can you recount your sister’s last moment with the family?
On that fateful day, she left home for school around 10 am to work on her project and for her clearance, having finished her final exams at the University of Benin on April 8. She was the only one who stayed with our mother in the community. She later went to my elder sister’s store inside UNIBEN to assist her, because of the high number of customers due to the matriculation of new students held that day. According to my elder sister, they closed the store at about 6 pm and parted ways at about 6.45 pm at the university’s main gate. My sister lives at Adolor, the road almost opposite the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, while my late sister had to go to Iyowa, where she lived with our mother.
What time did the feeling that she might be in danger occur to the family?
According to the call log on my mother’s phone, she started calling Gloria at about 7.45 pm and she could not be reached through her phone. My mom then called my elder sister to ask her whereabouts. My sister explained to my mother that there was traffic when they parted ways at UNIBEN’s main gate and told our mother to be calm, as Glory would soon get home. After several calls and her whereabouts could not be ascertained, my mom called me at about 9 pm, saying that Glory does not stay out this late. I also told her to be calm, with the assurance that she would soon return. She wanted me to come to Iyowa, but I told her it was too late. My mother was agitated and this drew the attention of the people who gathered in her house. She called me again at midnight, asking me to start praying for the safe return of my sister because she never slept outside.
How did the news of her death get to the family?
The next morning, which was June 14, my younger brother who made it to my mother’s house the night of July 13 began searching for her in the neighbourhood. He had earlier done a search on the street on the night of July 13 without finding her. He, however, took the search to the next street the following morning. On his way, he met a man and asked if he knew whether an accident happened around the area because he was in search of our sister. The man said there was nothing like that but he saw slippers by a piggery down the street and urged my brother to check it out. While he was doing that, we (other siblings) went to the UBTH emergency ward to see if they had brought any accident victims the previous night and we found nothing. It was while we were at UBTH that he called us that he had found our sister’s body lying under a tree opposite the piggery.
What did your brother do when he saw the body?
He told me that he shouted and carried the body which had become stiff and cold. He called the man who told him to check the slippers to tell him that the corpse was that of Glory. So, we also moved down quickly to the scene. We found blood on her private part.
What did you do when you got to the scene?
We wanted to trace how it happened. We called the vigilante whose shack was close to the scene but they refused to come. We found out that the grasses beside the piggery were scattered like a struggle had taken place and we thought the incident must have happened there. But the piggery owner said the attempt to catch a pig which escaped from the farm caused the grass beside his farm to be scattered. The case was then reported to the Ekhiadolor Police Station. The officers then assisted us in taking the corpse to UBTH morgue and we broke the news to my mom when we got home.
How did she take the news?
She was devastated and we all started crying. Her coursemates and the choir she belonged to in the church came to my elder sister’s house in Adolor where my mother currently stays. My mum has struggled to train me and my younger brother and we currently have the National Diploma from the Polytechnic. We are from a polygamous home where all the wives have to work hard for their children’s success. Our father died in 2015, which made things more difficult.
How would you describe your late sister?
She was very hardworking, a reason we supported her to ensure she studied at the university. While in secondary school, she was already learning how to become a beautician. While in the university, she was doing make-up for people who had big events and also did the same for her coursemates. She financed 40 per cent of her education with what she made from her cosmetic jobs while we took care of the rest. She bought her make-up kits, phones and textbooks with her earnings. She would not charge those she worked for but would take whatever was offered her. The result of the only exam she was waiting for before her death was just released and her friends told us during her burial on June 29 that my late sister had first class. According to my mom, she had no boyfriend and the few friends she had were her course mates.
How has it been since the death of your father?
It’s been difficult because my mum has been the only one supporting us with her food business which she sells around New Benin Market in a wheelbarrow. She was popular on Yoruba Street before she stopped in November last year. The fact is that life has not been fair to us, but we still try our best. Now, the death of Glory has added to our pains.
What did the community say about the incident?
We met some women in the community the day we discovered our sister’s corpse but we couldn’t meet the head of the community, because two brothers were laying claim to the chairmanship position. It was not possible to see any of them for any information.
What have the police done on the case so far?
The Edo State Commissioner of Police has been carrying us along. On June 27, the Divisional Police Officer called me to come to the crime scene. When I got there, I saw about 18 policemen from the state command and a television crew. One of the policemen showed me a boy who claimed he killed my sister. I met the TV crew interviewing the suspect but he never mentioned my sister. The suspect confessed that he had been killing victims in other parts of Benin but never mentioned Iyowa or my sister. I wanted to record the interview but the police said I shouldn’t do that.
Are you bothered by the way the investigation is being handled?
The police said the suspect confessed to having killed my sister in that piggery. So we need to know how the body got under the tree. The person who killed my sister made away with her phone. The question is has her phone been found? The CP has invited us to his office twice but he has not called us since the police said the killer had been arrested. We are hoping that the CP, who is a good man, will call us to his office to show us our sister’s killer.
What do you want the police to do since you feel that the phone is still with the killer(s)?
I believe before they went on air with the interview, further investigation should have been carried out to unearth more information so that justice could prevail. I don’t even think the suspect has been paraded but the social media is awash with his said confession.
With what you saw at the crime scene, do you think the crime was committed by one person?
From what we saw that day, it would be difficult for one person to commit that crime. If the suspect they brought to the crime scene is the one who killed my sister, he must have accomplices because he mentioned the names of people he sold stolen phones. But, in the interview we watched, that aspect was not shown. She was gang-raped and strangled to death and there was a sign that she was dragged or pinned to the floor. The flesh on her upper back side peeled but no deep injury.
How supportive has the management of UNIBEN been?
The Vice-Chancellor sent the Dean of Students’ Affairs to see us. About 13 lecturers from her department and the lecturer handling her project also came here. Her coursemates also paid us a condolence visit. The Student Union President, in an interview on a TV station, condemned the killing and commiserated with us.
How is the entire family coping at this trying time?
It has not been easy. My mom is currently staying with my elder sister and she has not slept since June 14. She calls her name every night, urging her to go after those who killed her. We have all been sleeping in the living room since the incident occurred so that we will comfort her, but it has also been difficult. She has been on pills to make her sleep, but they are not working and this is giving us concern.
What do you want now?
We are calling on President Bola Tinubu, Governor Godwin Obaseki, the Inspector General of Police, the Edo State CP and all human rights activists to come to our aid. We don’t have money to follow up on the case and are afraid the culprit(s) may not be brought to book. We want justice for our sister.
What will be your advice to people who engage in criminal activities?
It is high time people started doing what is right and eschewing evil. The indiscretion of a man or a group of persons led to the death of my sister, who abhorred ill-feeling against anyone.
