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| Bukayo-and-Damilola |
The husband of 25-year-old Damilola Fajana, who
was killed by a stray bullet in the Arepo community, Ogun State, during a clash
between members of the Oodua People’s Congress and some suspected pipeline
vandals, says his life will never be the same again.
Bukayo, who was on admission at a hospital at the
time of the incident, said his marriage to his late wife was barely one year
old, adding that she was six months and two weeks pregnant.
He added that she was planning to give birth in
the United States, having had a scan which showed that she was carrying a boy.
PUNCH Metro had reported on Friday that
Damilola, a lawyer from Ire, Ekiti State, was in her car when she was hit by a
stray bullet in the neck.
She was among three persons reportedly killed
during the gun battle between the OPC members and the vandals, who were mostly
Ijaw.
Our correspondent reported on Monday that the
traditional ruler of the community, Oba Solomon Atanda, led a protest on
Friday.
He said he would not allow Arepo to become a
battleground.
Damilola’s husband told PUNCH Metro that
his wife had left his sick bed in company with a driver a few minutes before
she was killed.
He said, “Around 2am on Wednesday, I had serious
pains and she rushed me to a private hospital near us. We knocked the
hospital’s door for about 30 minutes, but nobody came out, so we left the place
for another hospital in Ikeja, where she used for her ante-natal. She was six
months and two weeks pregnant.
“She was with me till around 4pm when she said she
wanted to go home. She was supposed to go to the immigration office for her
data capture because she was to deliver her baby in the United States. But
because of my illness, she postponed the appointment till Thursday.
“When she was about to leave, I decided to call
someone to drive her home.”
Bukayo said he phoned them to know about their
movement about eight minutes later, and was told they had arrived at the
entrance into the community.
He said he did not hear from them until a few
minutes later when he got a panic call from the driver, telling him that his
wife had been shot in the neck.
He said he asked him to take her to a hospital in
the area, where she was rejected.
An ambulance was said to have been organised to
take her to a hospital in Lagos State, where the doctors on duty confirmed her
dead.
Bukayo, while lamenting the tragedy, said he
wished he had died in the place of his wife.
“It was barely a year we got married that this
happened. I am saddened because she was my heart and brain. She was the reason
for my existence.
“She was contented with the little I could afford
us. I wish I had died and both my wife and my son ─ the pregnancy was a baby
boy ─ had lived. At least, I would have had a son to survive me,” he said.
A family friend, Oladipupo Adegoke, said the
incident had shaken Beachland Estate, where the Fajanas lived.
He called on the authorities to intervene in the
crisis before there was more bloodshed.
“There are a lot of prominent Nigerians living in
this place, and I usually tell people to live in Arepo because it is a peaceful
place.
“But since this incident, we have lost our peace.
What happened to my friend could happen to anybody and that is why it is
important for the government to investigate what is going on here and do
something quickly to end it,” he said.
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