How customer lured my husband to his death – Wife of missing welder

What is your occupation?

I’m a businesswoman, and I sell clothes. I have been married to my husband for six to seven years. I’m an indigene of Ijebu Ode, and I’m a 27-year-old mother of two.

What day did your husband go missing, and how did you realise he could no longer be traced?

My husband’s name is Ishola Jamiu; he is 32 years old, and he is a welder. He went missing on June 16 this year. He had been receiving calls from one of his customers called Ifagbenga, who bought some iron doors and complained about some issues.

My husband had initially told him that the issue was a minor one and he could arrange for one of his boys to go help fix it. By Monday, the same man called my husband and asked him to come and check out something different from the doors he had previously purchased.

That Monday morning, my husband dropped me off at the bus stop of my shop, which is Pipeline Bus Stop, and told me he wanted to go to Badagry to check out a job at Ifa’s (Ifagbenga’s) place. He was not too precise about where he was going, and I knew he has many customers, so I could not start asking him questions.

By the time it was noon, I called his number, but he did not pick up his phone. Although I was calling him about some money he was supposed to send, he sent it. After a while, I wasn’t feeling too good, so I told my neighbours at the shop that I was not feeling too good and wanted to lock up the shop and go home.

After locking up the shop, I went to my husband’s shop and asked his apprentices about his whereabouts. They told me he left to attend to a job while they were working. I asked them to finish up what they were working on. I became worried and scared when my husband failed to come back from where he went.

I began to panic. I had called his phone several times, but he was not responding. By the time it was 9 pm that day and I had not heard from him, I called someone named Mr Saheed, who had a shop close to my husband’s shop, to tell him what I was going through.

He told me to give him some time so he could help me try my husband’s number again. He called back later and told me the number didn’t go through. The man was supposed to be heading home but suggested we go out and search for my husband in his car.

He was also surprised because my husband told him where he was headed that morning, and he knows my husband doesn’t stay out late. He would never hide anything from me. By the time it was 10 pm, we drove out and went searching for him.

Where did you search for him?

We went to four different hospitals, including a general hospital, just to see if he was a victim of a road accident, but we did not find him. At the general hospital, we were told that the only emergency they had was an elderly man and that his children were the ones who brought him to the hospital.

We also visited the morgue to check, but he wasn’t there. I couldn’t go into the morgue because I had a two-month-old baby with me.

Your husband was invited to the house of the suspect for his service but did not return home. Was the suspect a friend to him or just a customer?

He was a customer of my husband. His name is Ifagbenga, and he is a herbalist. My husband has worked for him on several welding jobs for the past five years. My husband had done a gate for him. The last job my husband did for him was a door which he had come to collect before the Ileya period.

When your husband did not return home, what was your immediate reaction?

I was worried because I did not know what to do. I was just crying. The children and I could not sleep, and we couldn’t go home because the key to the house was with him. We stayed at the home of the man who assisted us in searching for my husband.

How long did it take before you reported to the police?

It did not take days. After fruitless searches and calls to his phone were not responded to, we immediately went to report at the Badagry Police Station the night he did not return home, but we were told that it was not up to 24 hours since he went missing, and based on that, we would not be attended to.

The third day, we eventually went to another police station in Mowo, where we were asked to provide my husband’s picture. The police at the station promised to help us put it in the news.

The police followed us to the house when we tracked my husband’s phone, and the security guard was arrested.

The police contacted Ifagbenga and invited him to the station. He responded that he would come to the station but would be coming with his lawyer; he took two days before reporting to the station.

How did you feel when you got there but did not see your husband?

After a fruitless search, we decided to use a tracker. The first tracker we used showed us that he was around the Badagry area, but we were not getting the precise location. So, we tried another until we got a third tracker from Ikeja that gave us the precise location of his phone. We traced my husband’s phone to Ifagbenga’s house.

We had been calling the phone since the day he left home, but no one answered. I did not go with them on the very day my husband’s phone was traced to the house. The tracker was able to let us know that there have been three phone numbers in constant communication in that house.

We were told that the security guard and his father had been in constant communication, as well as the alleged owner of the house, Ifagbenga. We got the help of a Hausa guy who helped us to speak Hausa to the father of the security guard. We told him we didn’t know where his son was, but we had a job for him.

He eventually took us to the place where his son was. We got to the place, and we saw the security guard with my husband’s phone. He claimed that my husband sold the phone to him, but it was a lie. We saw my husband’s bike, phone, work tools, house key and a clipper set for my son’s hair all on the premises.

What do you think has happened to your husband, and how did you feel when you saw those items?

The first time Mr Saheed and others went to the house where my husband’s phone was traced, I did not go with them, but Mr Saheed was able to identify my husband’s bike. I went with them the second time, and I was asked to enter the building so I could identify my husband’s belongings.

When I went in, I saw my son’s clipper, my husband’s shoe, handbag, clothes, work tools and our house key. Immediately I saw those items, I went on to ask the security guard where my husband was, and he said, ‘Na Ifa kill am, he kill am he come carry am go.’

The security guard, while handcuffed, attempted to run away, but he was later apprehended. The security guard admitted that Ifagbenga and a bricklayer came to the house together with my husband that day, but Ifagbenga denied being in the house on that day.

The house was an uncompleted building, and I know he deliberately did not complete the building because of the sinister acts they had been committing in the place. The house allegedly belongs to his brother, who lives abroad. Ifagbenga himself lives in Sango.

I fell on the floor and started to cry because I did not know where to start. I felt devastated. I have two children with me, and I did not know what to do.

From what I feel, I know my husband has been killed. Someone who is not dead can’t leave his clothes, shoes, work utensils, house key and bike in another man’s house. I want justice for my husband. I have been sad. Other items like student uniforms, a bra, women’s clothes and shoes, and other items were there.

How customer lured my husband to his death – Wife of missing welder

What is your occupation?

I’m a businesswoman, and I sell clothes. I have been married to my husband for six to seven years. I’m an indigene of Ijebu Ode, and I’m a 27-year-old mother of two.

What day did your husband go missing, and how did you realise he could no longer be traced?

My husband’s name is Ishola Jamiu; he is 32 years old, and he is a welder. He went missing on June 16 this year. He had been receiving calls from one of his customers called Ifagbenga, who bought some iron doors and complained about some issues.

My husband had initially told him that the issue was a minor one and he could arrange for one of his boys to go help fix it. By Monday, the same man called my husband and asked him to come and check out something different from the doors he had previously purchased.

That Monday morning, my husband dropped me off at the bus stop of my shop, which is Pipeline Bus Stop, and told me he wanted to go to Badagry to check out a job at Ifa’s (Ifagbenga’s) place. He was not too precise about where he was going, and I knew he has many customers, so I could not start asking him questions.

By the time it was noon, I called his number, but he did not pick up his phone. Although I was calling him about some money he was supposed to send, he sent it. After a while, I wasn’t feeling too good, so I told my neighbours at the shop that I was not feeling too good and wanted to lock up the shop and go home.

After locking up the shop, I went to my husband’s shop and asked his apprentices about his whereabouts. They told me he left to attend to a job while they were working. I asked them to finish up what they were working on. I became worried and scared when my husband failed to come back from where he went.

I began to panic. I had called his phone several times, but he was not responding. By the time it was 9 pm that day and I had not heard from him, I called someone named Mr Saheed, who had a shop close to my husband’s shop, to tell him what I was going through.

He told me to give him some time so he could help me try my husband’s number again. He called back later and told me the number didn’t go through. The man was supposed to be heading home but suggested we go out and search for my husband in his car.

He was also surprised because my husband told him where he was headed that morning, and he knows my husband doesn’t stay out late. He would never hide anything from me. By the time it was 10 pm, we drove out and went searching for him.

Where did you search for him?

We went to four different hospitals, including a general hospital, just to see if he was a victim of a road accident, but we did not find him. At the general hospital, we were told that the only emergency they had was an elderly man and that his children were the ones who brought him to the hospital.

We also visited the morgue to check, but he wasn’t there. I couldn’t go into the morgue because I had a two-month-old baby with me.

Your husband was invited to the house of the suspect for his service but did not return home. Was the suspect a friend to him or just a customer?

He was a customer of my husband. His name is Ifagbenga, and he is a herbalist. My husband has worked for him on several welding jobs for the past five years. My husband had done a gate for him. The last job my husband did for him was a door which he had come to collect before the Ileya period.

When your husband did not return home, what was your immediate reaction?

I was worried because I did not know what to do. I was just crying. The children and I could not sleep, and we couldn’t go home because the key to the house was with him. We stayed at the home of the man who assisted us in searching for my husband.

How long did it take before you reported to the police?

It did not take days. After fruitless searches and calls to his phone were not responded to, we immediately went to report at the Badagry Police Station the night he did not return home, but we were told that it was not up to 24 hours since he went missing, and based on that, we would not be attended to.

The third day, we eventually went to another police station in Mowo, where we were asked to provide my husband’s picture. The police at the station promised to help us put it in the news.

The police followed us to the house when we tracked my husband’s phone, and the security guard was arrested.

The police contacted Ifagbenga and invited him to the station. He responded that he would come to the station but would be coming with his lawyer; he took two days before reporting to the station.

How did you feel when you got there but did not see your husband?

After a fruitless search, we decided to use a tracker. The first tracker we used showed us that he was around the Badagry area, but we were not getting the precise location. So, we tried another until we got a third tracker from Ikeja that gave us the precise location of his phone. We traced my husband’s phone to Ifagbenga’s house.

We had been calling the phone since the day he left home, but no one answered. I did not go with them on the very day my husband’s phone was traced to the house. The tracker was able to let us know that there have been three phone numbers in constant communication in that house.

We were told that the security guard and his father had been in constant communication, as well as the alleged owner of the house, Ifagbenga. We got the help of a Hausa guy who helped us to speak Hausa to the father of the security guard. We told him we didn’t know where his son was, but we had a job for him.

He eventually took us to the place where his son was. We got to the place, and we saw the security guard with my husband’s phone. He claimed that my husband sold the phone to him, but it was a lie. We saw my husband’s bike, phone, work tools, house key and a clipper set for my son’s hair all on the premises.

What do you think has happened to your husband, and how did you feel when you saw those items?

The first time Mr Saheed and others went to the house where my husband’s phone was traced, I did not go with them, but Mr Saheed was able to identify my husband’s bike. I went with them the second time, and I was asked to enter the building so I could identify my husband’s belongings.

When I went in, I saw my son’s clipper, my husband’s shoe, handbag, clothes, work tools and our house key. Immediately I saw those items, I went on to ask the security guard where my husband was, and he said, ‘Na Ifa kill am, he kill am he come carry am go.’

The security guard, while handcuffed, attempted to run away, but he was later apprehended. The security guard admitted that Ifagbenga and a bricklayer came to the house together with my husband that day, but Ifagbenga denied being in the house on that day.

The house was an uncompleted building, and I know he deliberately did not complete the building because of the sinister acts they had been committing in the place. The house allegedly belongs to his brother, who lives abroad. Ifagbenga himself lives in Sango.

I fell on the floor and started to cry because I did not know where to start. I felt devastated. I have two children with me, and I did not know what to do.

From what I feel, I know my husband has been killed. Someone who is not dead can’t leave his clothes, shoes, work utensils, house key and bike in another man’s house. I want justice for my husband. I have been sad. Other items like student uniforms, a bra, women’s clothes and shoes, and other items were there.

How customer lured my husband to his death – Wife of missing welder

What is your occupation?

I’m a businesswoman, and I sell clothes. I have been married to my husband for six to seven years. I’m an indigene of Ijebu Ode, and I’m a 27-year-old mother of two.

What day did your husband go missing, and how did you realise he could no longer be traced?

My husband’s name is Ishola Jamiu; he is 32 years old, and he is a welder. He went missing on June 16 this year. He had been receiving calls from one of his customers called Ifagbenga, who bought some iron doors and complained about some issues.

My husband had initially told him that the issue was a minor one and he could arrange for one of his boys to go help fix it. By Monday, the same man called my husband and asked him to come and check out something different from the doors he had previously purchased.

That Monday morning, my husband dropped me off at the bus stop of my shop, which is Pipeline Bus Stop, and told me he wanted to go to Badagry to check out a job at Ifa’s (Ifagbenga’s) place. He was not too precise about where he was going, and I knew he has many customers, so I could not start asking him questions.

By the time it was noon, I called his number, but he did not pick up his phone. Although I was calling him about some money he was supposed to send, he sent it. After a while, I wasn’t feeling too good, so I told my neighbours at the shop that I was not feeling too good and wanted to lock up the shop and go home.

After locking up the shop, I went to my husband’s shop and asked his apprentices about his whereabouts. They told me he left to attend to a job while they were working. I asked them to finish up what they were working on. I became worried and scared when my husband failed to come back from where he went.

I began to panic. I had called his phone several times, but he was not responding. By the time it was 9 pm that day and I had not heard from him, I called someone named Mr Saheed, who had a shop close to my husband’s shop, to tell him what I was going through.

He told me to give him some time so he could help me try my husband’s number again. He called back later and told me the number didn’t go through. The man was supposed to be heading home but suggested we go out and search for my husband in his car.

He was also surprised because my husband told him where he was headed that morning, and he knows my husband doesn’t stay out late. He would never hide anything from me. By the time it was 10 pm, we drove out and went searching for him.

Where did you search for him?

We went to four different hospitals, including a general hospital, just to see if he was a victim of a road accident, but we did not find him. At the general hospital, we were told that the only emergency they had was an elderly man and that his children were the ones who brought him to the hospital.

We also visited the morgue to check, but he wasn’t there. I couldn’t go into the morgue because I had a two-month-old baby with me.

Your husband was invited to the house of the suspect for his service but did not return home. Was the suspect a friend to him or just a customer?

He was a customer of my husband. His name is Ifagbenga, and he is a herbalist. My husband has worked for him on several welding jobs for the past five years. My husband had done a gate for him. The last job my husband did for him was a door which he had come to collect before the Ileya period.

When your husband did not return home, what was your immediate reaction?

I was worried because I did not know what to do. I was just crying. The children and I could not sleep, and we couldn’t go home because the key to the house was with him. We stayed at the home of the man who assisted us in searching for my husband.

How long did it take before you reported to the police?

It did not take days. After fruitless searches and calls to his phone were not responded to, we immediately went to report at the Badagry Police Station the night he did not return home, but we were told that it was not up to 24 hours since he went missing, and based on that, we would not be attended to.

The third day, we eventually went to another police station in Mowo, where we were asked to provide my husband’s picture. The police at the station promised to help us put it in the news.

The police followed us to the house when we tracked my husband’s phone, and the security guard was arrested.

The police contacted Ifagbenga and invited him to the station. He responded that he would come to the station but would be coming with his lawyer; he took two days before reporting to the station.

How did you feel when you got there but did not see your husband?

After a fruitless search, we decided to use a tracker. The first tracker we used showed us that he was around the Badagry area, but we were not getting the precise location. So, we tried another until we got a third tracker from Ikeja that gave us the precise location of his phone. We traced my husband’s phone to Ifagbenga’s house.

We had been calling the phone since the day he left home, but no one answered. I did not go with them on the very day my husband’s phone was traced to the house. The tracker was able to let us know that there have been three phone numbers in constant communication in that house.

We were told that the security guard and his father had been in constant communication, as well as the alleged owner of the house, Ifagbenga. We got the help of a Hausa guy who helped us to speak Hausa to the father of the security guard. We told him we didn’t know where his son was, but we had a job for him.

He eventually took us to the place where his son was. We got to the place, and we saw the security guard with my husband’s phone. He claimed that my husband sold the phone to him, but it was a lie. We saw my husband’s bike, phone, work tools, house key and a clipper set for my son’s hair all on the premises.

What do you think has happened to your husband, and how did you feel when you saw those items?

The first time Mr Saheed and others went to the house where my husband’s phone was traced, I did not go with them, but Mr Saheed was able to identify my husband’s bike. I went with them the second time, and I was asked to enter the building so I could identify my husband’s belongings.

When I went in, I saw my son’s clipper, my husband’s shoe, handbag, clothes, work tools and our house key. Immediately I saw those items, I went on to ask the security guard where my husband was, and he said, ‘Na Ifa kill am, he kill am he come carry am go.’

The security guard, while handcuffed, attempted to run away, but he was later apprehended. The security guard admitted that Ifagbenga and a bricklayer came to the house together with my husband that day, but Ifagbenga denied being in the house on that day.

The house was an uncompleted building, and I know he deliberately did not complete the building because of the sinister acts they had been committing in the place. The house allegedly belongs to his brother, who lives abroad. Ifagbenga himself lives in Sango.

I fell on the floor and started to cry because I did not know where to start. I felt devastated. I have two children with me, and I did not know what to do.

From what I feel, I know my husband has been killed. Someone who is not dead can’t leave his clothes, shoes, work utensils, house key and bike in another man’s house. I want justice for my husband. I have been sad. Other items like student uniforms, a bra, women’s clothes and shoes, and other items were there.

Do you suspect that Ifagbenga is a killer?

Anyone who visits that place and sees all those items there would know that he is a killer. I have a strong feeling he has been doing such for a long time before it happened to my husband. My husband would not have believed that someone whom he had worked for in the past five years would do such a thing to him or want to harm him. I don’t think it was because of the minor issue with the doors that he killed my husband.

In the video circulating online, a man claimed that the solar panel in his mosque, which was declared stolen, was found in the suspect’s house. Do you think the suspect robbed or kidnapped your husband?

Yes, that is true. The security guard has allegedly been pilfering things from the neighbourhood. People claimed he had stolen many phones. The man returned from Mecca and did not find the solar panels on the roof of his mosque again.

It wasn’t until we went to search for my husband that he saw the solar panels in the house. My husband was not robbed. I have a feeling he used voodoo to summon my husband. My husband had told me he wanted to fix his phone, but he was going to the house of the person who had been calling him.

What has the suspect, who is currently in police custody, said about the disappearance of your husband?

Yes, he is at the Panti Police Station. He has been denying meeting my husband on that day; he claimed he was at the airport. However, the security guard claimed that they parked my husband’s bike and left in a vehicle, but when Ifagbenga returned in a tricycle, my husband was not with him.

The security guard claimed that when he asked Ifagbenga about my husband, he refused to respond. But when the security was taken to the station where Ifagbenga was being held, he claimed he did not remember what he said to us earlier, that’s why I think voodoo was involved.

Do you think the suspect, Ifagbenga, works alone or has associates?

I believe he has associates. When we went to the police station, he didn’t show any remorse towards me; he acted like he had something he believed in. But I know he is not stronger than God.

Has the suspect in police custody confessed to kidnapping or killing your husband?

He has not admitted to his crimes; he has been denying meeting my husband on June 16th. The police have said that the law prohibits them from torturing suspects. But how will a suspect confess to a crime he committed if he isn’t tortured?

His countenance at the station is unbelievable because he has shown no remorse so far. The security guard, his father and Ifagbenga are all in police custody.

Have you been to your house since the incident?

I have been staying at my mother’s place since then. We had just moved into the apartment, and it has not been up to two months. They did not allow my husband to enjoy the fruits of his labour. I’m just so sad. Nigerians should come to my aid.

Since the police are prohibited from torturing them, are they taking them to court?

Ifagbenga has not confessed, so I don’t think he and his associates can be taken to court. They want to oppress us, but I want people and the government to intervene.

Have you involved a lawyer?

Yes, we have. The lawyer insists on waiting for the police to finish what they are doing before he transfers the case. We went to Panti Station together about a week ago. The police at the first station did not allow Ifagbenga’s lawyer to speak. But after the case was transferred to Panti, the lawyer came with some herbalists who are friends with Ifagbenga. The lawyer claimed that his client, Ifagbenga, was at the airport on the day my husband went missing.

What do you want the government to do for you in this situation?

I don’t want to suffer in vain. I have accepted that my husband has been killed, but the suspects should provide his body for us. I don’t know how to tell my children that their father was called for a job but was later killed by the same person.

I have been staying at my mother’s place since then. We had just moved into the apartment, and it has not been up to two months. They did not allow my husband to enjoy the fruits of his labour. I’m just so sad. Nigerians should come to my aid.

Since the police are prohibited from torturing them, are they taking them to court?

Ifagbenga has not confessed, so I don’t think he and his associates can be taken to court. They want to oppress us, but I want people and the government to intervene.

Have you involved a lawyer?

Yes, we have. The lawyer insists on waiting for the police to finish what they are doing before he transfers the case. We went to Panti Station together about a week ago. The police at the first station did not allow Ifagbenga’s lawyer to speak. But after the case was transferred to Panti, the lawyer came with some herbalists who are friends with Ifagbenga. The lawyer claimed that his client, Ifagbenga, was at the airport on the day my husband went missing.

What do you want the government to do for you in this situation?

I don’t want to suffer in vain. I have accepted that my husband has been killed, but the suspects should provide his body for us. I don’t know how to tell my children that their father was called for a job but was later killed by the same person.

I want justice for my husband. The government should intervene and make sure the suspects are not released; they should be punished accordingly.