Posted by By AKEEB ALARAPE, Ibadan on
For 46-year-old Mrs. Suliyat Olaoye, the road to motherhood was a tortuous journey. After her wedding in 1982, she had to wait for 16 long years before she gave birth to a child. Even so, misfortune dogged her every step, with miscarriages in between.
* My baby knew she'll die
For 46-year-old Mrs. Suliyat Olaoye, the road to motherhood was a tortuous journey. After her wedding in 1982, she had to wait for 16 long years before she gave birth to a child. Even so, misfortune dogged her every step, with miscarriages in between.
Last Tuesday again, death sneaked in and took away the youngest of her three children, Islamiyat Olaoye. Only three years and two months old, Islamiyat was one of the victims of the tragedy that befell her school, Living Water Nursery and Primary School, located at Ayedaade/Agric area of Olomi, a suburb of Ibadan, Oyo state.
Narrating her ordeal to Sunday Sun at her uncompleted bungalow, Friday, the bereaved mother disclosed how her late daughter was reluctant in going to school that fateful day.
"I will say my child saw her death coming. She was unusually silent in the morning before going to school.
She was withdrawn to herself while playing with sand, a behaviour that was not known with her. By 7.40a.m, I called her sister that they should start going to school since they reported to me that their teacher used to flog them anytime they come late.
"Her father then came out to give her money to buy biscuit while she picked her bag and headed for her school without looking back. I was surprised with this behaviour of hers. That will be the first time my daughter would go to school without looking back.
"Everyday, I would see her to the end of the field beside our house before she would agree to go to school. But that day, immediately she collected the
money from her father, she headed for her school without my company.
"I was still in the house when around 1pm, I heard a neighbour shouting my name. I rushed out and she told me that my daughter's school had collapsed and they could not locate her. I ran to the school and joined them in searching the rubbles, searching through the broken blocks and roofing sheets. I could not find her. Then, I was told that some injured pupils have been taken to the hospital at Academy. I was asked to go there. On my way, about four buildings to the site of the school, I saw my child's lifeless body by the gutter.
"When I saw my child lying by the gutter where they put her, I moved closer to her and held her closely to my chest. I carried her, at least she is my child. When I held her, they deceived me that she was still breathing. Next thing, they put her at the back of our house and started digging her grave. I shouted and started rolling on the floor."
Mrs Olaoye could not hold back tears at this point. Amid sobs, she recalled how intimate her late little daughter was with her.
"My child loved me. She would always stay by my side anytime we were at home. But now, I can't see her again. What life is this? After her birth, I had miscarriages about three times. So, I cannot say she is my last born. We only pray that God will look down on us," she sobbed.
Asked whether the school proprietor has come to commiserate with her family, she said no. "We have not seen him nor heard about him. But we heard that he had run away. But if he did not run, what can we do to him? We have left everything in the hands of God."