Man on the run after beating pregnant estranged lover to death in Lagos

One Okiki Arisekola, a commercial bus driver has been declared wanted by the police for beating his estranged mother of his child to death in Lagos.

Late Islamat Bolaji, who was reportedly pregnant for another man was beaten to death by Arisekola, during a scuffle on September 16, at No. 50 Wright Street Adekunle, Yaba, Lagos, where the victim lived with her grandmother.

According to Saturday Sun, it was a quarrel between the couple over the custody of their 11-month-old daughter named Kemi that led to the victim’s death.

The suspect had reportedly been frequently visiting the baby and his mother, a development that aroused suspicion, due to the no love lost between the two lovers.

64-year-old grandmother of the deceased,  Mrs Gbemisola Agbola said she had lost Ismalat’s mother, Aishat at just exactly the same age. Losing the one she had doted on in consolation was understandably a cruel stab. 

The deceased’s father, Isiaka Bolaji, was also inconsolable. Islamat was his first daughter and was nursing a little child she already had with her killer.

“He has not been visiting my daughter, but recently he just started coming and my daughter grew suspicious of his visits," said Isiaka Bolaji 

"On the fateful day, when he came, they were together at first, then he left, on his return they started quarreling nobody paid them attention, because that was how they always fought. But, this time, it led to a physical fight and Okiki beat my daughter into a coma. After some minutes that he had left, my daughter fell and became motionless. We rushed her to the hospital and it was there she died,” Bolaji recalled of the incident.

Pointing to a spot on the floor, Mrs Agbola said:

“This is where I stood when I saw my granddaughter faint right before me just as her mother gave up the ghost,”

“She was just recovering from a fever attack. She had not done any work for close to a week. On that day, she decided to treat herself with some medication. She asked me to hold on to the child, an 11-month-old baby, I took the child and placed him on my lap. Not long after, Islamat’s sister, Kemi came in and asked me to give her the baby, I did and Kemi caressed the baby. She stepped out with her only to meet Okiki standing outside. He demanded to take the girl away and Kemi gave him the baby. But when Islamat saw Okiki with the child, she rushed to take the baby from him. 

"They dragged the baby between them, while Kemi stood looking at them. Okiki tried to leave with the baby, but Islamat didn’t allow him, because she feared that he was going to use the child for rituals. It was a passerby that called my attention to Okiki merciless beating of my granddaughter, I almost had high blood pressure, I rushed out and called my granddaughter. As I was leading her back into the house, she fell and fainted. The first hospital we took her to didn’t have doctors on call, but before we could get to the health center she died. It was confirmed by the doctors there,” the grandmother said.

Mrs. Agbola could not confirm speculation that the deceased was pregnant before her death. She said: “There had been rumours about her being pregnant, but she said that she was not, so I didn’t ask her who the father was."

Saturday Sun learnt that Arisekola was said to have been dating the victim since 2015 and the union produced the baby girl. However, he showed no move to marry her, apparently because he was still trying to find his feet. But he took responsibility for his daughter.

According to sources, the couple even broke up at a time, with Arisekola abandoning both mother and child, staying away for a long time.

Things reportedly changed when he saw Islamat may have been pregnant again probably for another man. He then stepped up visits and demands to have his daughter back.

Photo credit: Facebook user
News: The Sun