Taiwo Sobola, father of a 22-year-old lady, Kabirat, reportedly killed by her boyfriend, tells DAUD OLATUNJI how her missing daughter’s corpse was later found by policemen
Who are you to the deceased?
I am the father of Oyindamola Kabirat Sobola, the girl who was killed in her house in Ogbe, Abeokuta, on February 3, 2023. We are from Abeokuta in Ogun State.
How old was she?
She was 22 years old.
What was her educational qualification?
She had her National Diploma from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic. She was a student of Science Laboratory Technology in the institution. She completed her ND in the year 2021 before she proceeded to work with FOODCO. My daughter was working in FOODCO before her death.
Was she living with you?
No, she wasn’t living with me; she was living alone in an apartment at Ogbe.
Who was she living with?
She was living with her friends in Sokori area before I told her to move to Olorunsogo. So, ever since her stay in Olorunsogo, she had been a good girl, and there was no bad record about her there. She was a gentle and a reserved lady, everybody is aware of this fact. She never liked partying, except when we had family party, and she had only female friends.
How will you describe her?
She was religious; she was always going to church. She was a member of Celestial Church. I always asked about her boyfriend, but she would always tell me she didn’t have any boyfriend. Whenever she was off-duty, she would come home. I’ve never heard any conversation of her with any man before.
Did you see the man who was reported to be responsible for your daughter’s death?
If my child had shown him to me, I would never allow her to date him. I say this because I saw the guy as someone that is not responsible. He looks like a cultist and ‘Yahoo boy’. In fact, her friends confirmed it that he is a yahoo guy; I am very disappointed in my child for following that type of man.
Who rented the apartment for her?
I was aware of the apartment that she rented, and I visited her in the apartment once in a while anytime I came to the area. Also, I always visited her in her workplace.
When last did you see her?
The last time I saw her was on the 26th of January 2023, when we talked about her sister’s fee for WAEC examination. She told me that her sister, Tobi Sobola, had been told to pay her school fee, and I told her that I knew already. Tobi is her younger sister; so, we discussed about the WAEC fee, and she assured me that she would assist me, but I asked her how she would assist me; I asked if she had money? She replied that I shouldn’t worry, and that she would pay half of the money. She said I should pay the remaining half of the money.
The money was N30,000, and I appreciated her. She told me she had collected her salary and I told her that I would send my own half of the payment. I sent the money to her, that was on January 28; I sent my own N15,000 and I called her on January 29 before I left for work. She told me that she had sent the money to her younger sister, and I confirmed that from her younger sister. But on the first of February, I sent a text message to my daughter to wish her happy new month, and she replied. That was the last time I saw her text message.
What was her reply to the text message?
Happy new month, my dad.
How many are your children?
Three; I have three children.
What was your late daughter’s position among your children while she was alive?
She was the first born and first daughter.
How did you get the news of her death?
Although my phone was not reachable on that day, I got the news later when I left my office; that was on Saturday, February 4. On that day, after leaving work, when I got to a place where there was network, I was in a car on an expressway when one of my friends called me and said, ‘Taiwo, where are you?’ The tone was not friendly, and I asked him what happened. Then he said one of Kabirat’s friends, Fola, called him that Kabirat has been missing, and they couldn’t get in touch with her. Fola attended the same school with Kabirat.
So, I said they would see her, maybe she went to her mother’s place, because I was just coming from work, but my friend said no, stressing that they had called her mother. My friend further said, ‘In fact, every member of the family is here’. So, I asked where they were, and he said Ibara Police Station, Abeokuta, and that they had reported her missing.
I was shocked by this news, and right from the moment, I wasn’t myself again. So, I told them I was on my way to the police station. I went straight to Ibara Police Station; on getting there, I met my family members, and I also met my daughter’s friend there. Her name is Fola; she was talking to the police because they were interrogating her.
When I got to the station, I was asked if I was the father of the deceased, and I said yes. They said that a young man, Kabiru, who they identified as Kabirat’s boyfriend, reported the case earlier to the police that my daughter (Kabirat) was missing. I asked who the young man was. When he came, I asked him who he was to my daughter, because I didn’t know him from anywhere, I haven’t seen him in my life. He responded that Kabirat was his girlfriend and they both saw themselves on Thursday, and that she told him she was travelling to her mother’s place in Ifo Local Government Area of the state. That’s where we live. The young man later explained that he saw a message that entered her phone, stating, ‘Where are you?’
What happened next?
I asked him if he checked her phone, he said yes, and that he knew she was not going to Ifo, and that she was going to her boyfriend’s place. The police then began to ask him questions, and he was replying them. On the 3rd of March, which was on Friday, the young man told the policemen that he reported her missing because he didn’t see her. He said she ought to have resumed to her workplace around 10am, but he did not see her. The young man said the situation left him worried about her whereabouts. He also said he went to her house to look for her for about three times, and to her workplace, but he couldn’t find her. So, he said he concluded that something might have gone wrong, and that was why he came to report her missing.
The policemen asked the boy if he had informed the family of the deceased before reporting her missing to the police, he said he only called Kabirat’s friend, (Fola), and that she was the one who assisted him in calling other friends of Kabirat in Lagos. They later called my friend, who is a lecturer at the institution; he lectured them when they were in school. So, I got the information through my friend.
Meanwhile, Kabirat’s friend told us that during that period, they called my niece, telling her that they were looking for Kabirat, and that they should send them Kabirat mother’s name, because they had sent Kabirat’s picture to some Alfas, and the Alfas told them that they should get Kabirat mother’s name, so that they could use it to find her. Hearing this, the policemen got suspicious of the boy and they detained him. All these statements were made at Ibara Police Station.
Are you satisfied with the way police handled the case?
Yes and No. Yes in the sense that, at Ibara Police Station, they did a great job. Immediately they got the information, they went together with the deceased’s friend (Fola) to the deceased’s house. As they got there, they saw the key to the house on the floor under the door’s foot mat. Meanwhile, Fola and that guy (suspect) had earlier been to that house twice before they came to report at the police station, lamenting that they couldn’t enter. As it was told, they didn’t see the key immediately they got there; it was when the police were about to return back to the station that Fola called their attention to where the key was, picked it up and open the door.
What happened after the door was opened?
As the door was opened, they saw my daughter’s lifeless body on the bed. According to eyewitnesses’ account, she was stabbed in the neck and the left side of her breast. Immediately, the policemen took the photographs of her and some other things they found in her house before they took her corpse to the mortuary.
I really appreciate DPO, Ibara (Police Station); he really tried. Personally, he went with them, and it was even his car they used to carry the corpse to the mortuary. After the day, they started the investigation and arrested some people. The guy (Kabiru) told the police that the deceased went to meet with a guy at Ilaro on Thursday, the day before she died. They called the man who was also said to be Kabirat’s boyfriend. In less than two hours, he arrived and made his statement, and some of her friends too, including Fola, made their statements.
On Monday evening, March 5, they completed their investigation, and the guy (Kabiru) was transferred to Eleweran. No, in the sense that, when we got to court on Monday, March 5, we were expecting to see other suspects but unknown to us, the IPO had released them; we only saw Kabiru (suspect). When I asked the IPO why he released others without informing us, the IPO said he (Kabiru) was the only one that they suspected knew about the death of Kabirat (the deceased). While in Eleweran, they collected my statement and the suspect (Kabiru) statement.
What about the autopsy of the deceased?
We asked them (police) if we were to do the autopsy and they said it was not necessary because so far, there was enough evidence for the death of the deceased. The police also said it was only if there was no evidence for a death of a person that autopsy was allowed. However, we did the test as advised by the Ibara Police Station, and we informed them that the doctor asked us to come in two weeks time. A week later, Sunday, March 12, the doctor released her corpse because we wanted to bury her.
Some people came on the day we buried her, claiming they were Kabiru’s family. We were shocked at their visit and we confronted them with some questions; how they knew our house, why they were here (house). Among them, there were two men that inscribed tattoo on their bodies, but they later disappeared.
We were suspicious about their presence, most especially those two guys that left unaware. Immediately, we called the police (Ibara) and they arrested the others that were left with us. I called the DPO and told him that before they released them, they must provide the other guys that came to our house to the house with them. They (guys) must actually be Kabiru’ s gang, but I don’t think they (police) did anything about it.
Another thing I told the police was about her second phone (iPhone) that got missing. When they got to her apartment, it was only her Tecno phone that was found. The iPhone that got missing was the one she used to do Tiktok which she still also did (Tiktok) on Thursday with the guy she went to meet at Ilaro before she was killed.
Kabiru (the suspect) claimed that he transferred N100,000 to her (deceased) on Thursday which I expect the police to investigate, but their response was that, ‘You (Mr Taiwo) are not the one to teach us our work; we will do the necessary things’. The police are very good. I believe them if it comes to undercover investigation unless if they don’t want to do it. They told me to be calm and I agreed with them. After that day, they told me they had completed their investigation and the suspect (Kabiru) would be taken to court on March 23.
How is the mother taking this news?
She has not been feeling fine, even our grandma; we used to take her to the hospital every week. The mother is not in good condition because the daughter is her second partner. She was her first born, and they just killed her partner just like that. When she wanted to get admission into MAPOLY, I told her to study Accounting, but she said no, and that she liked to work in laboratories. So, that was why she went further to study Science Laboratory Technology.
Since she has been working in FOODCO, I told her last year to go and obtain her HND form, but she refused, saying it was not yet time because she didn’t want to stress me. Kabirat said she wanted to work for another one year so that she would be able to help me. We were planning for her school before the incident happened.
What do you want the government to do for you?
I want justice. We want the government and the police to identify the murderer and ensure we get justice.
What are the charges against the suspected killer?
He was charged with murder
How did you raise the fund for the autopsy?
We (Sobola’s family) paid for it.
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