Since Monday 3rd June 2019, Queen Elizabeth Iluyomade has been crying and praying to wake up from her nightmare. A call she received on her phone that evening shattered her peace as the caller broke the news of an okada accident in Ile Zik, near Ikeja, that took the life of her only daughter Modupe, married to Oluwaseun Olomo, 41, residing on 3, Banire Close, Egbeda, Lagos.
She rushed to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, but the deed had been done. Modupe is dead. Mrs Iluyomade wailed; cried bitterly. Then the nightmare began.
Modupe’s death had led to a lot of controversy, suspicion and intrigues before it eventually culminated in a case before Magistrate B. O. Osunsanmi in Ogba, Ikeja Magistrate District, Lagos.
Immediately after the burial, Iluyomade, Olomo’s mother-in-law, contended that the children (Fiyinfoluwa, 5, and Folakemi, 2) had to reside with her after the death of their mother on 3rd June to stave off the post death emotional trauma.
After few days with her, she started noticing a strange bowel movement and behavior patterns of the children and decided to carry out medical examination on 5th July 2019 at the General Hospital Isolo.
While this was on, the “war over the custody of the children” began. “My opinion was that since Olomo, my son-in-law, is an Uber driver, who will not be available to take care of the children? It will be proper to have custody of the children for now”, she said.
Meanwhile, after few days of staying with her, she started noticing a strange bowel movement and behaviour patterns of the children and decided to carry out medical examination on 5th July 2019 at the General Hospital, Isolo.
She said she later approached the Lagos State Office of Public Defender (OPD), concerning what she discovered about the children, from where she was referred to the Mirabel Centre at LASUTH, Ikeja.
Several tests (copies of result attached to the petition) conducted at Mirabel Centre later revealed that two-year-old Folakemi had been penetrated severally and serially from her vagina and anus. It was also discovered also that the five-year-old boy, Fiyinfoluwa had been penetrated through his anus.
Armed with the medical report and the video evidence where the boy confessed that the act was done by their father, she said the OPD referred the matter to the Gender Unit of the Lagos State Police Command since, according to them, “the matter has morphed into a criminal offence in which Olomo is a prime suspect”.
Iluyomade lamented that the case was subjected to a lot of manipulation at the Gender Unit, which eventually gave the custody of the children to the father. Iluyomade said that Olomo has relocated from his last known address at Egbeda, Lagos to an unknown location with the children.
Meanwhile, she said her appeal and “Save my Soul” letter to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwoolu, his wife, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly to intervene in the matter and save her from the unending trauma has not elicited any response.
Iluyomade then headed to the State High Court, Ikeja to appeal the judgment of the Magistrate’s court and also prosecute the father of the children for disobeying the court order over the freedom to see the children.
But since then, the case has been entangled in one legal somersault or the other. Justice Muftau Olokooba, who was first assigned the case, fell sick, and all the cases assigned to him were moved away to another judge. Iluyomade’s case was given to Justice Olayinka Adeyemi, who was Head of OPD, that knew the genesis of the case.
The defendants however raised objection to her handling the case, because they claimed she knew too much about the case; and the case was moved again to Justice O. I. Oguntade.
When the case was supposed to open in Oguntade’s court last week, the defence lawyer allegedly claimed he is not ready because he was yet to file the motion.
While the legal perambulations continue, Iluyomade’s tears and agony also continue. “While I am briefing my lawyers, I am also appealing to Nigerians, especially Governor Sanwoolu, whom I understand is averse to child molestation and domestic violence, to come to my rescue. There are so many gaps here…and I don’t really know what is happening now”, she said.
