WTF AFRICA- MOTHER THROWS SON’S BODY IN CANAL

The trial of a hairdresser, Funmilayo Odunlade, who was accused of dumping the body of her 13-year-old son, Tunde Sunmola, in a canal, has been adjourned till October 27.

According to the police, Odunlade committed the act on August 2, 2014, around 6.00 a.m. at Mowe.

Odunlade, 36, is facing a charge of misconduct relating to bodies contrary to Section 163 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.

Testifying before the Ikeja High Court, Sergeant Adebayo Lawal, said the case was transferred to his department at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Panti, Yaba, on August 7, 2014, around 5.00 p.m.

Lawal, who was the Investigating Police Officer (IPO), said: “The complainant was Mrs Wuraola Sunmola, the former mother in-law to the defendant and we summoned the defendant, who volunteered to give a written statement.”

The IPO further stated that the defendant claimed that the deceased had called her that he was being beaten and maltreated by his father, her ex-husband, in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State and as such, asked his mother to come and bring him to Lagos for holiday.

“She brought Tunde to Lagos and took him to her sister’s house, one Yemi Odunlade, at Mowe, to spend his holiday,” the IPO said.

The police officer said the late Tunde contracted an undisclosed ailment while at his aunt’s house.

“Tunde complained of leg pains and his mother went to Ijebu-Ode to see her former mother in-law for financial assistance in treating him. Her mother in-law gave her N3,000 cash, drugs and some foodstuffs for the deceased and she returned to Lagos,” he said.

Lawal told the court that a few days after the trip, Odunlade received news from her sister that her son had died.

“Immediately she heard the news, she made a trip to Ijebu-Ode to inform the complainant about the death of Tunde. Her mother in-law, upon receiving the news, got a bus and three men to go to Lagos with the defendant to bring Tunde’s body from Lagos.”

The trip, Lawal said was aborted on the way by the driver and the three men because of traffic.

She said the driver and the men returned to Ijebu-Ode, leaving behind the defendant, who headed back to Mowe on her own.

The witness said when the defendant got to her sister’s home, she and her sister hired a motorcyclist to convey the body from the house.

“The motorcyclist conveyed the body of the deceased and his mother, and on the way, she told the motorcyclist to drop her and the body at an undisclosed location, where she dumped the body of her son into a canal,” she said.

The body, Lawal said, was never retrieved, adding that the defendant was charged to court and the case file sent to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice.

“I and my team took the defendant to Mowe to retrieve the body, but our efforts were futile, because the defendant claimed she could not remember where she dumped the body,” the witness said.

Justice Sedoten Ogunsanya adjourned the matter till October 27 for continuation of trial.