IF only Mrs Enami Abifarin, resident in Ago Igbira area of Apata in Ibadan, Oyo State, had known that her quest to get kerosene to cook a meal for her family would land her in the trouble she is currently in, probably she would have decided to go on hunger strike with her eight year-old and one and a half year-old sons.
Unfortunately, her first son, Nwanna, did not bring back kerosene or the N50 his mother gave him for the purchase. Before any one knew what was happening, a controversy on how the N50 got missing led into an argument, at the end of which a 56-year-old woman, Mrs Bola Aregbesola, laid dead.
Dateline was Saturday February 18, 2012. It was 9.30p.m. and Mrs Abifarin needed to get N20 pap for her two sons to take as dinner while she also needed N50 worth of kerosene to prepare a rice meal the following morning. She reportedly sent the boy out with two N50 notes to accomplish the errand but the mystery of how one of the notes got missing turned the night into a disaster as the pap seller was reported to have slumped and died in the course of a fight that arose because of the missing N50.
According to Mrs Abifarin, who had been cooling her heels at the State CID, “I am an orange seller. When I returned from hawking on that fateful day, I sent my eight-year-old son, Nwanna, to go and buy N20 worth of wrapped pap (eko) for me from Mama Aregbe(sola). I gave him N50 for this and also gave him a torn N50 given to me by a foodstuff seller in the neighbourhood, asking him to change the note and use it to buy half a bottle of kerosene for us to cook rice the following morning.
Not long after he left, he came back crying. When I asked him what happened, he told me that Mama Aregbe, the pap seller, was calling me. He added that she collected the two N50 naira notes from him and claimed that it was only one.
I informed my landlady about the incident and she advised me to go and see the woman, saying that it was likely that my son lost the N50 note. I followed him to the foodstuff seller who has his shop beside Mama Aregbe’s own and the young man confirmed that my son came to him and he changed the torn note for him. He added that he would have sold kerosene for him but he was out of stock. He also said he saw two N50 notes with my son.
“I got to Mama Aregbe and she said my son was crying that he gave her two N50 notes. I replied that it is only God that knows all hidden things. She then flared up and started saying different things, threatening not to sell things for me again. I wondered why she said that because I had never had any cause to return anything to her or engage in any controversy with her. She left her shop for the neighbourhood, reporting the incident to people. As I was going, one woman popularly called Iya Kudi called me and warned me not to send my child on errand in the night again.
“I thanked her and said I did not plan it that way but the children ate the food I kept for their dinner before night fell, hence the need to buy the pap for them to eat. I left to take care of my little son, Samuel, whom I met n*ked at home. As I was going, I met Mama Aregbe and she dragged me with my dress, saying that I should follow her back to her shop so that we could continue the argument since I had been reporting her to people.
“She held me and said none of us would sleep that day. She gave a punch in my right eye and scratched me with her nails. She said she would not allow me to go home. Neighbours loosened her grip on me and I left for home. When I got home and saw the N20 pap, I decided to return it to her. When I got there, I saw her discussing with one woman selling biscuit. One of her children was sitting down while her husband, Baba Aregbe, stood by.
“I put the pap down beside her child and turned to leave. In annoyance, she took the pap and hurled it at me. I started running away. I looked back and still saw her coming after me, so I ran inside a house and stayed there. After some time, I asked for the time and they told me it was 12 midnight. I decided to leave for my residence. As I was going, I met a young man who warned me not to go home. He informed that Mama Aregbe was dead and that her husband brought cutlass to our house.
“I quickly went to my father-in-law’s place to inform him of what happened. Very early next morning, my in-law went to the Aregbe’s house but didn’t meet anyone at home. He then decided that we should go to the police station so that I would present myself to the police and narrate what happened. That was how I became the guest of the police
NEWSMEN learnt that the case was transferred from Apata Division to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Iyaganku for further investigations.
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