How Soldiers Killed My Husband-Widow

Posted by admin Armed Forces, Headlines Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

A widow, Mrs. Fumilayo Jato, has told the Osun State Truth and Reconciliation Commission sitting in Osogbo, the state capital, how soldiers invited to the state by ousted Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola killed her husband, Abraham Jato.

Testifying before the commission in petition NO 87/ OSTRC/ 2011 against Oyinlola and ex-Commissioner of Police Sulaiman Fakai, Mrs. Jato said the soldiers, who came to Ilesha on Oyinlola’s invitation in the heat of political protests that followed the declaration of Oyinlola as winner of the April 14, 2007, governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), killed her husband.

She said she was at her shop on April 16, 2007, when her husband, who had learnt of the violent riot in town, rushed to her shop to take her and their only son, but was shot dead by the soldiers.

Mrs. Jato said the police came around 12pm and took her husband’s body to the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile Ife, where the family paid N50, 000 before the hospital released the body.

She said they paid the police N40, 000 before a report on the incident was released.

Mrs. Jato urged the commission to probe her husband’s murder and compensate the family to enable her take care of their only son.

Counsel to Oyinlola, Mr. Temitope Olusogbon, sympathised with the widow, but said as the governor then, Oyinlola had to protect the lives and property of the people when there was political violence in Ilesha, which was beyond police control.

Olusogbon said the deceased must have been a victim of cross fire and maintained that the soldiers acted professionally during the crisis.

He urged the commission to consolidate all the petitions against Oyinlola and fix a date for him to appear in person and respond to the allegations.

Mr. Aseez Ismaila dragged a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Yemi Oladimeji; his younger brother, Semiu Oladimeji and Isekolowo Akeem before the commission.

Ismaila alleged that the trio set his shop ablaze and injured his wife and one and a half-year-old son, who eventually died.

Semiu denied the allegation, saying he had never met the petitioner before.

He said: “I know nothing about the incident and whoever killed the boy will mourn his own children too. The only solution to this political crisis is for people to accept the election results in good fate, whether anybody rigged or not. If you rigged and won, that is your destiny and we must accept it.”

-The Nationwp_posts