Murdered Lowo Oyediran In Ibadan
Here is the excerpt of an interview investigative journalist Mike
Ile did with Temitayo Oyediran, the wife of late Lowo
Oyediran’s brother.
_____________________________________________________________________________
So I got a call this morning. It was Temitayo Oyediran on the
line. She is married to the elder brother of Oyelowo Adebayo
Oyediran, the man who was murdered by his wife in Ibadan,
South West Nigeria.
Given the massive exposure the story has already received, I
kept the interview short and focused on the specific areas
where questions have been raised the most. My questions
were:
Why did she stab him?
Why did he go back home after the first stab?
Was the deceased abusing his wife?
Was the wife just finding out about the ‘illegitimate’ child?
If she had been such a terrible wife, and he, such a good man,
why didn’t he leave her all these years?
Here is what she said:
“I became friends with the deceased in Obafemi Awolowo
University (OAU) in 2001. It was through him I met and
married his elder brother. He (deceased)was a very happy,
outgoing guy. He never did anything without relating it to his
brother. After he married Yewande (killer wife), everything
changed. He became withdrawn and began to keep things to
himself, citing his wife’s distaste for his sharing information
and time, with family. And because he was so dedicated to
her, he did whatever was needed to please her. ”
Here, the interview pauses as she begins to cry. So deep and
painful were her tears, I was tempted to postponed the
session, but she was determined to get the story out here, she
continued.
“Six months into their marriage, Yewande stopped cooking for
her husband. The fights began. She is a very aggressive
woman. She regularly threw her husband’s belongings out of
their matrimonial home. It was a rented apartment paid for by
the deceased.”
ABOUT THAT FATAL NIGHT
“Yetunde already knew about that baby since last year.
Apparently, Lowo met another woman a year into his own
marriage. When that lady got pregnant, he was so afraid of
his wife, he wanted the lady to abort. But we encouraged him
to keep the baby. Yetunde knew this.”
“When they started quarreling at about 10pm that night, the
landlord came down to intervene, only to find out that the
woman had stabbed my inlaw on his shoulder and his back. It
was the landlord who took him to hospital. On their return,
they were addressed by the landlord, whose son even offered
Lowo his room for the night. But Lowo told them that he
trusts his wife and that they would be fine. The truth is that
he has been soft on her because he felt guilty about his extra
marital affair, and had spent the last few months trying to
appease her in every way. He has NEVER hit her. Even after
she stabbed him. The landlord and co-tenants can testify to
that. Quarrel, yes. For domestic abuse, he was the victim. All
these years. Now look where his trust has landed him.”
I hear her breathing hard and struggling with tears again. I
wait. Silent. I don’t even know how to console her. So I wait.
Then she continues……
“When he went back inside, the landlord said he heard their
voices raised again. The landlord’s wife even went to knock on
their door but Yewande told her to mind her business. It was
after that, she went back inside and stabbed him. I cannot
confirm if he was asleep when she did it. But he screamed for
help and was rushed to hospital gasping desperately for air.
The doctor confirmed him dead on arrival.”
At this point I had to ask the hard question. “If he suffered a
much abuse all these years, why did he not leave?”
“That part is a mystery to us because he even started keeping
his good friends away when they advised him to leave the
wife. When it came to that issue, he always became like jelly.
He loved her, but who knows if there were other forces that
made him so attached to her?”
I asked why the killer wife did not have a child.
“She has fibroid. He had paid for her first surgery and a
second one was due soon, before this happened.”
“His child is ten months old now. Yetunde knew about the
child since last year so it wasn’t new to her. He was due to
travel out to soon and part of his plans was to visit the child.
That infuriated her. She usually never liked anyone coming
close to my brother inlaw. She was extremely possessive and
jealous, but was that enough to take his life?”
She goes on, “Those pictures of his being circulated in social
media as his babies are lies. Those are my own kids in the
photos taken with him. His only child is the one outside his
marriage, who will clock 1 soon, and will never know the
father.”
Here, her cry becomes too soul piercing. She says she just
wants the truth to get out there, because Yetunde and her
“influential” family are already concocting stories to circulate,
that would likely sway the tide of public opinion in her favour.
I have a few questions to ask you, reader.
Some folk had said that the killer had a broken shoulder and a
swollen face from the ‘abuse’ she allegedly suffered from her
late husband. But look at her pictures below, do you see any
sign of such? Some people said it was self defence. How
come she has no injuries to show there a struggle of any sort?
Who is lying?
Whatever the case, a murder has been committed. I will bring
you more details from this interview. I will also contact the
other family so that we will hear their own side of this tragic
story that has shaken a nation. Watch this space.
#JusticeForLowo
Facebook and Whatsapp chat between Temitayo Oyediran and
Mike Ile