Many people were shocked yesterday that two children
starved to death on Tuesday in Ibadan, the Oyo State
capital.
The discovery followed an unscheduled visit by the state
police command to Celestial Street in Agbowo.
The street is densely populated with sparse lines of
demarcation, typical of similar densely populated city
neighbourhoods. The area is close to the nation’s premier
university, the University of Ibadan (UI).
Despite the area’s proximity to affluent neighbourhoods, the
children could not get help, according to their host.
When the police convoy arrived in the area, surprise was
written on the faces of residents and passersby. Many
followed their vehicles to find out if a heavy crime had been
committed in the area.
But they soon discovered that Amarachi Ukoha, 16, and
Munachi Madagu, three, died because the breadwinner of
the family, Mr Kunle Ayoola, could not feed them.
He also failed to provide the medical treatment for them
because he had no money to take to the hospital.
Ayoola, 20, said he could not help the children because of
his poor income, adding that those who could help were
also unavailable.
He is married to Chinonye, also 20. They have an 18-month
old baby. Chinonye had Munachi for her first husband and
brought him to her new home. Her younger sister,
Amarachi, 16, came to live with them.
She was said to have died of hunger, which was
compounded by diarrhoea when the family was preparing to
bury Munachi.
Both died in an eight-room bungalow. They were thought to
have been struck by a strange illness that caused their
death. But Ayoola confessed that death visited them
because he could not feed them. Munachi’s photo showed
that he was malnourished.
Ayoola said: “I think they died as a result of poor medical
care. I tried my best to save them but there was no money.
The only people that could help were not at home when I
visited them.”
The family man gathers metals from dustbins and dump
sites and sells them at Ogunpa Market in Ibadan. But the
income, according to him, is so small that he could not
afford to feed his family well.
He said he earned about N500 whenever business was
good. But that was a far cry from meeting the basic needs
of his six-member family, which includes his maternal
grandmother.
Ayoola said: “I sell scraps at Ogunpa Market. I make
between N500 and N1,000 daily when business is good. I
did not learn any work before starting the scrap business. I
dropped out of school in Primary Six because there was no
money.”
The scraps seller said he was making efforts to bury
Munachi when he approached the priest of a church
opposite the house for advice. But the man advised him not
to bury the boy because he was not his father. He took him
to the police station to report the death.
But before the police arrived the house, Amarachi had also
passed on, complicating the case for Ayoola. The deaths
were reported to Police Commissioner Muhammed Katsina
later in the day.
The priest, Most Superior Evangelist Tosin Otakoya, said:
“On Tuesday, one boy called Kunle Ayoola, who is living in
front of my church, came to me and said one of his babies
had died. I asked if the baby truly belonged to him and he
said no. I told him he had no right to bury the baby unless
his dad authorised him to do so. When we tried to get the
baby’s father on phone and the number was not going, I told
him to go to police station and report himself because he
could not keep the body in his house.
“I said it was not ideal for him to bury a boy that he did not
father. On getting to the station, I met with the Divisional
Police Officer (DPO) and explained the situation to her. She
volunteered to go to the house with me. When we got to the
house, we met another 16-year-old lady, who was already
dead, on the floor. It was strange to us.
“So, she contacted the Area Commander and the police
commissioner to come to our rescue. The Area Commander
came and evacuated the two bodies to the mortuary. I
noticed these people died of poverty. They had nothing to
eat or money to take care of themselves. The lady and that
baby were sick and there was no care before they died.”
www.thenationonlineng.net/new/two-children-die-of-hunger-in-ibadan/

Chai! So sad. RIP to the dead.

And some have money like KILODE! Why was the church across the street not led to feed those starving in their neighborhood? Where were the family members? Friends anyone?
This breaks my heart

Only in the zoo Republic
Shame to Nigeria, shame to its politicians Shame to Mr Lougard Shame to prostitute Shore

May God purnish any living thing within the premises of the seat of FG and State Govts in Nigeria even LGs.