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Alarmed by what she described as attempts by the Nigerian Police to shield those who allegedly killed her husband, the distraught wife of the late Mobitel boss, Engr. Charles Joseph, Folashade, yesterday said that his blood is on the hands of the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Sunday Ehindero.
Alarmed by what she described as attempts by the Nigerian Police to shield those who allegedly killed her husband, the distraught wife of the late Mobitel boss, Engr. Charles Joseph, Folashade, yesterday said that his blood is on the hands of the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Sunday Ehindero.
Ehindero, had Friday disowned the earlier police account that the Mobitel boss' death followed gunshot wound based on the postmortem examination carried out on September 16 by a medical team led by Prof. John Oladabo Obafunwa.
Unimpressed by Ehindero's claim, the widow said: "I sincerely think that the Nigeria police are daft. They should be wise enough to organise proper cover-up."
Addressing newsmen in Abuja Friday, the IGP said contrary to the earlier police conclusions, Joseph actually committed suicide in an "accident occasioned by misadventure".
Speaking exclusively to Sunday Sun in Lagos, the bereaved wife said she was however not in the least surprised by the change in the story by the Police.
Her words: "I am aware that the police have not been able to find the killers of all the high profile murders and assassinations that occurred in the recent past. But I thought the force under the new Inspector General, whose policy was supposedly anchored on "integrity", would use the opportunity of my husband's case to prove a point that after all, Nigerian police can be trusted. But they have done it again.
"As far as I am concerned, the police did not carry out any investigation.
The family were not represented at the second autopsy purportedly carried out by the police team and the pathologist sponsored by the bank.
Professor Obafunwa, who performed the first autopsy, was out of the country to United States. His plea to the police to wait till he returned before the second autopsy was rejected. The person he nominated to represent him at the place was not allowed to witness the autopsy."
Continuing, she expressed doubts about "the competence of Professor Ojo, the pathologist that carried out the second autopsy. If they don't have a sinister motive, why did they not wait until Prof. Obafunwa return from the United States? Why the hurry to conclude the investigation? If there is any party interested in a swift investigation, it should be the family. Why are the police in a hurry to close investigations?
"From the footage of the statement that the driver made about the death of my husband, every right-thinking person should know that the driver is not telling the truth. He was speaking under duress. I don't envy the poor boy. But I sincerely think that the Nigeria police are daft. They should be wise enough to organise proper cover-up."
Folashade said she was however "confident that Lagos State health administration would not allow their professional integrity to be rubbished by the Nigerian police because the result of the new autopsy is a strong indictment on the entire state health apparatus. But I hope they would clear their names.
"Something tells me that all the people that were involved in the assassination of my beloved husband have murdered sleep and they will sleep no more. Their conscience would never find rest. And I know that the God I worship is a God of vengeance. He will take revenge on our behalf. I know Nigerians would like to move on with their lives after all. But my advice to everyone is that we are not all safe. If it can happen to Charles, it can happen to anybody. So, I see it as everyone's responsibility to be truthful in this case. No one can be careful enough.
"My children are taking everything very badly. Some of them have refused to talk. Some are no longer eating. One of them keeps asking me: ‘Why did Daddy die?'
"My appeal to (President Olusegun) Obasanjo is to extend his anti-graft reform to the (Nigeria) police. He should realise that the police are an integral part of the state apparatus, as important as the judiciary. I want him to have a quiet time and ask himself why the police have been unable to find the killers of all the persons that were assassinated in this administration."
Meanwhile, the deceased elder brother, Prof. Kehinde Joseph, has given indication that the family would head for court in its determination to not only unravel the identities of the alleged killers of his younger brother, but also get them to bring them to justice.
The elder Joseph who resides in Canada said "as far as the Joseph family is concerned, what happened in Abuja on Friday was non-existent. It never took place. The death certificate that was issued to us explained that Alaba died of injury sustained from a gunshot. I don't know of a place where they issued death certificate twice.
"The Commissioner of Police in Lagos State recently issued a release that the command was investigating how the person that shot Joseph came about such a sophisticated gun. How do you reconcile that with the Friday show of shame by the police authority?"
He said: "What killed Alaba, as far as the family is concerned, is not arguable. Who killed him is what we want the police to tell us. But rather than do that, the police are making a fool of themselves. I think with all sincerity, the people in Nigeria police force are daft, absolutely daft.
"How can the police tell us in a spate of one month that a man died of three different causes? It was the CP of Lagos that first said Alaba jumped to death. Later they said he was shot and now they are saying another thing entirely. And they want Nigerians to take them seriously?
"But I want to assure all the people that are connected with Alaba's murder that this is the beginning of the case. It is not the end of the beginning. Since the police have failed to carry out their duties, our next port of call would be the courts. We have absolute faith in the Lagos judiciary. The next thing is to get the court involved."