Lagos trader commits suicide to spite mother

A trader , Funmilola Adeodu, has committed suicide in Ilogbo -Eremi , in the Morogbo area of Lagos State .The 28 -year -old mother of two was said to have taken a local insecticide , Sniper, to spite her mother, Ifatunmibi Adegbenle , for allegedly maltreating her niece , Rachael Balogun .

The deceased’ s husband , Samuel Adeodu, told PUNCH Metro that Ifatunmibi always fought his wife for indulging Rachael ’ s bad behaviour .

Rachael was said to be living with Ifatunmibi , but usually ran to Funmilola ’ s house anytime she was beaten for misbehaving.

Samuel said, “ My wife and I had no fight . In fact , we woke up on the same bed on Friday, October 26 , when this incident happened. The issue was among my wife, her mother and the niece .

“The niece , Rachael , is very stubborn. Whenever her grandmother corrected her , she would run to my place to meet my wife because we all live within the same neighbourhood . This usually caused disagreement between my wife and her mother. The mother usually cursed her for indulging Rachael . I heared her saying that nobody could take Rachael away from her because she had been nurturing her since she was a baby and my wife used to say that she was going to kill herself over it .

“I was working when I received a call that my wife drank Sniper. They even said before she drank the insecticide , she had taken a local rat poison in the presence of her parents , but people gave her palm oil . It was after that attempt that she went out to buy Sniper and drank it before they could stop her .

“My thinking is that when she was rescued after taking the rat poison , it should be clear to them that she meant it when she said she would commit suicide . So , they should not have released her to go back to her shop alone; what were they thinking? It means that they killed her , because she died in their presence . ”

Ifatunmibi told PUNCH Metro that she had on several occasions cautioned her daughter against encouraging Rachael ’ s misconduct.

She explained that Funmilola had already taken the rat poison before coming to her place , adding that efforts to prevent her from drinking the Sniper proved abortive .

The Osun State indigene said, “ Whenever I corrected Rachael , she would run to Funmilola ’ s place to report me and I always pleaded with her to ignore Rachael , but she did not listen to me.
“Rachael was abandoned when she was just 11 – month – old and I have been taking care of her ever since . She ’ s about 16 -year – old now and I see nothing wrong in correcting her for doing something wrong since she lives with me .

“On the day of the incident , I wanted to correct Richael for stealing N 50 when she ran to Funmilola ’ s shop . When Funmilola came , she shouted that I always maltreated Rachael and that she was going to kill herself to give me a bad name .

“We were begging her when someone said she had already taken rat poison . We quickly held her and gave her red oil and coconut water to calm her down .

“We thought that it was over when she said she was going back home , until she returned with Sniper and drank it . We tried to stop her , but it was too late . I don ’ t know what Rachael told Funmilola that made her to commit suicide . ”

Funmilola ’ s father , Hassan , said the deceased also attempted to poison her own son , Joseph , but was stopped , adding that she was counselled for hours after her first suicidal attempt failed .

“I was the one that stopped her from poisoning Joseph . In fact , Funmilola had already opened his mouth to give him rat poison before I took him to my wife ’ s shop . It was at that point she ate the remaining poison before people intervened and rescued her .

“Funmilola ’ s friend even counseled her for three hours and when she was fine , she told me that she was going home . I gave her the go ahead and warned her not to fight with anybody . I also told her to pay me a visit the following day and she left. All of a sudden , she came back with Sniper and started saying she was going to kill herself .

“We had some distance between us, so before I could collect the local insecticide from her , she had taken it . She even bit me while trying to stop her , ” the 50 -year -old said.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer , CSP Chike Oti , confirmed the incident , adding that the deceased committed suicide over custody of the niece.
He said, “ We are investigating a case of suicide . Unfortunately , the person that is at the centre of the story is gone ; she did not leave a suicide note . But from what we gathered from the family , she had a tussle with her mother over the custody of a child that was raised by the mother. She wanted the girl to live with her and the mother refused and that was a source of frustration for her .

“From what we gathered , that was the only issue she had against her mother. But nobody ever imagined that she would be so pained to the point of taking her own life . ”

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