A woman, Latifat Adeyemi, who was battered by her uncle-in-law, Rasak Alabi, at Aga, Ikorodu, has cried out for justice. Last Friday Alabi hit the victim with a spanner on her head and face, shattering her nose.
In a telephone interview with a The Nation Correspondent, Adeyemi said her aunt’s husband attacked her at their 3, Ile-Ewe, Sholebo family residence at Aga, Ikorodu. The makeup artist explained that trouble started after she got home on Friday night and discovered that the Air Conditioner in her room has been removed. She said
“I was surprised and angry that the AC in my room at our family house was removed by my aunt’s husband. His wife stays abroad. The house belongs to my grandparents but because his wife renovated it, he has been staying there ever since they resolved their marital problems.
“So, that day I got back from work and realised that my AC has been removed. I was angry. I picked my phone and called my sister, telling her that I have had it. That I don’t think I can continue staying in the house. I was still outside talking to my sister on phone, when the man from nowhere, hit me with spanner from behind.
“He said I was making noise. That was how he continued hitting me with the iron. I was bleeding but he didn’t care. When he was satisfied, he went inside.
“I had to call my parents and uncles before going to Ebute Police Sation to make an entry. At the station, the policemen asked me to go to the hospital and treat myself first that I was bleeding seriously. But I didn’t go straight to the hospital. I want back to the house to provoke the man so that he can come out but he did not. Then, I left for the hospital,” she said.
Continuing, Adeyemi said policemen later went there to invite him for questioning but he refused to answer them.
Rather, she said, the man went to Igbogbo police station to make another entry and took some men to her uncle’s house to arrest him.
“He took vigilante members (Onyabo) to my uncle’s place because my uncle was against him. But when the vigilante boys took my uncle away, some people who knew him quickly contacted their boss and told him what happened. My uncle was released. But he went and got policemen from another station to arrest him, despite that our case was already at Ebute police station. My uncle was arrested and detained at the station till the following morning when other family members came.
“I was on admission at the hospital and they had a family meeting and he said it was temptation. My bill was over N70,000. I was told he came to the hospital and paid the bills but he never bothered to check on me to see what he caused. Even the doctors told him to visit me and apologise but he refused. They said he paid the bill and left.
“His wife too has not bothered to call me to find out what happened. I really cannot say if there was any problem between us. I don’t know. But the action was very surprising and I don’t think I want him to go free after what he did to me.”
The victim who was at the Public Advice Centre (PAC), Ministry of Justice, Alausa on Friday, said she was determined to get justice for the unprovoked attack on her.
She said: “The man has refused me access to get my things. My clothes and other belongings are still inside the house. For three days after the assault, I wore the same dress. I want justice. The police have not been able to arrest him, I don’t know why. So, I have gone to the Ministry of Justice so that the government can look into the matter."