Muideen Akinola, elder brother to 35-year-old housemaid named Sariyat (now late), has said that those responsible for the death of his sister must not be allowed to go unpunished.
Findings indicated that Sariyat was killed early this year by Fatai Razaq, her lover,
who is an okada rider in Ijoko Ota, Ogun State.
According to Muideen, Fatai and late Sariyat met at Oworonsoki in Lagos about 10 years ago while the victim was living with her aunt.
The two loverbids reportedly cohabited in Lagos without getting the consent of their families. Although they lived together for eight years, the lady did not bear any child.
Muideen said when their father died in 2015, the family insisted that for the relationship between Sariyat and Fatai to continue, his family members must show up for a formal introduction.
He, however, failed to bring his parents or any member of his family as demanded by his lover’s family.
The relationship eventually crumbled two years ago, so Sariyat relocated to Ibadan, her hometown.
She worked in a filling station before taking up a job as an housemaid with an old couple until on January 31, 2020, when she was discovered to be missing.
The lady was said to have left her employer’s home on the excuse that she was going for a church vigil as was her practice.
After several efforts to know her whereabouts, Muideen said the police tracked her call logs to Fatai, saying he was the last person she spoke to before the phone went dead.
He said, “We took N3,000 worth of okada ride and crossed two rivers to get to Fatai’s house. His shelter was built with tarpaulin. We called, but he didn’t show up. At around 7pm, one young boy brought a phone to his house and said it had been fully charged.
“When the police collected the telephone, they discovered that it belonged to Sariyat. The lady who claimed ownership of the telephone (Fatai’s girlfriend) was arrested and detained at the police station. The police returned to Ijoko the second time in search of Fatai. His friend, Alfa Lookman, was arrested and brought to Ibadan. Lookman said Fatai had killed my sister.
“On the third day when Fatai was arrested, he said he would take the police to where she was. At the end of the day, he took them to where he claimed her body was buried in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
“At the moment, the police said the case would be transferred to the Ogun State Police Command at Eleweran, Abeokuta, and plans are underway to exhume the corpse and conduct an autopsy.”
Mr Olugbenga Fadeyi, Police Public Relations Officer, Oyo State Command, said, “The suspect had been charged to court for murder.”
