For Sarah Bakare, 51, a resident of 21 Oluwole Street, Ejigbo, it was a close shave with death as her Landlady identified as Mrs. Lydia Opatola in connivance with her children subjected her to an attack for reasons best known to them.
The incident which took place at about 10pm on the 15th of October, 2015 was said to be a display of brutality on the hapless Sarah, who alleged she had only come out of her house to turn on the tap when her landlady and her children pounced on her and beat her to within an inch of her life.
Sarah, while narrating her ordeal to Daily Times said her travails started in January 2014 barely two months after she moved into the house.
Hear her story “I moved into this house in January 2014. I paid the sum of N150, 000 as rent and another N100, 000 for agent and agreement fee and an additional sum of N10, 000 as fee for any possible damage which is refundable whenever I want to move out if there is none. I didn’t know the landlady before, but, my agent who connected me to her agent said they are all members of the same church. My agent attested to the fact that the house was good and that the landlady was nice. So I did not bother to investigate any further. But to my surprise, barely two months after I moved in, her sons started giving me trouble”.
“First it was her son Folorunsho, who is about 24 years old who was always coming to peep through the window of my bathroom whenever I or my daughter is bathing. It became a continuous occurrence and when I couldn’t stomach it any longer, I reported the matter to my Landlady. To my utmost surprise, she asked me if I did not want her children to walk freely on their father’s property. I reported to their agent who pleaded with me to be patient that he would talk to them” she said.
Little did Sarah know this was the beginning of a more dangerous experience, she speaks on. “Shortly after that, they used a big stick to block my pipe where water flows through the house; they also used iron to also block my sink from the outside. I reported to the landlady again, yet, she refused to take any action. It was at this point that I reported the matter to the Landlords Associations. When the landlords association delegates came to the house to investigate what was going on, her children got violent and almost attacked them” she disclosed.
She disclosed that the last straw which broke the camel’s back happened on the 15th of October, 2015, in her words “I went out to fetch water as it was not flowing inside, little did I know that it was trap. As I made to open the tap, someone hit me from behind with a plank on my back. I fell and became unconscious for a while.
“When I regained consciousness, I saw my Landlady, her seven children and daughter in-law beating me. I started calling my daughter Toyin for help. My daughter who was in the bathroom rushed out, she too was given the beating of her life. They locked the gate and put on the generator to drown the noise we were making during the scuffle”.
Our saving grace was the intervention of a neighbor who alerted members of the Odua People’s Congress (OPC) in the street who forced open the gate and came to our rescue.
As soon as they sighted the OPC members, six of her children jumped the fence and escaped, the OPC members were only able to apprehend the Landlady, her daughter and daughter in-law. We were taken to the OPC tarmac from where we were taken to the Ejigbo Police division. On getting there, we found three of her sons already at the station to complain. After hearing our case, they started begging to settle the matter out of the station. Neighbours who went with me refused, telling me that I was not the first victim as former tenants there had also experienced similar case.
Mr. Olarewaju Afolayan who came to the rescue of Sarah also commented on the incident. “I own a shop in the neigbourhood. But on that day, I heard a noise I ran to where it was coming from I tried to go in but was warned by a male voice not to come in as they would deal with me if I did. I defied their threat and found my way in to help Madam Sarah. I was given a slap and beaten with a plank too.”
When Daily Times visited the scene of the incident at No 21 Oluwole Street in Ejigbo, neither the Landlady nor her children was available for comment. It was said that the entire family had disappeared after they were released on bail on Friday and told to report to the station on Monday.
Sarah speaks further. “When my Landlady and her children were released on Friday and got back to the compound on Saturday, I was in my room when I heard the children saying I am still here, that they will kill me. I called the Investigating Police Officer, (IPO) and put it close to what they were saying for her to hear. The Police came to the house on Monday when they did not show up but they were nowhere to be found.
“I have spent over N30, 000 to treat myself at the Isolo General Hospital and I am still spending. I am therefore calling on the Lagos State commissioner of Police to please call for immediate investigation into this matter. I want Justice. If not for God I do not know if I would still be alive to tell my story. The police at Ejigbo are not handling the case as they should. The Opetola’s should be fished out from their hiding and made to dance to the rhythm of the music they choose to play.”
When the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Joseph Offor was contacted for comments, there was no response. Calls and text message sent to his phone was not replied to.
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