Kunle Akinrinade April 13, 2024
David Adebayo and his younger brother Ismail shared an envious bond in spite of their different religious leanings. Born into a Christian family from the Owu section of Abeokuta, Ogun State, Ismail was taken to live with a Muslim family members as a teenager, hence he adopted the religion of his guardian while his elder brother, David, remained a Christian.READ FULL ARTICLE>>>
But despite their different religions leanings, the duo was so fond of each other that they became rather inseparable. To further cement their bond, Ismail and David decided to build one house so they could continue to live together. Thus, in 1982, the two brothers bought one plot of land from a surveyor in Agidingbi area of Ikeja, Lagos, on which they erected a one-storey building at No 14 Abiodun Shobajo Street, Agidingbi.
The said building consists of eight rooms each on the top and ground floors as well as a boy’s quarters where they both lived until Ismail died about five years ago. The death of Ismail has, however, shattered the familial bond between the families of the two brothers.
The widows and children of Ismail want the property sold so they can share the proceeds as they complain of incessant harassment and brutality meted out to them by David’s sons. The matter has sparked a furore as aged David insists he would never sell his own floor of the storey building.
The eldest wife of the late Ismail, Madam Kudirat Adebayo, said she was disturbed by the constant fight and brutality served on her sons by the sons of David, her deceased husband’s elder brother.
Kudirat said: “My husband, the late Ismail Adebayo, and his elder brother, Pa David Adebayo, jointly built a one-storey building in the Agidingbi area of Lagos State.
“My husband lived with me and my children and his second wife and her children on the ground floor while his elder brother, David Adebayo, lives with his children and wives on the top floor.
“The house is located at 14 Abiodun Shobajo Street, Agidingbi, Ikeja, very close to the New African Shrine in Alausa.
“My husband died five years ago, and since my husband died, we have not known any peace. The children of my husband’s brother have been molesting, harassing and brutalising my sons in the building.
“They scalded my son with hot water and brutalised him. They engage in unwholesome business activities at Fela’s African Shrine and operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have raided the place many times. Hence, the decision to sell the building to avert incessant or further humiliation of my children by the sons of my husband’s elder brother.
“We have reported the matter to the Alausa Police Station because there was a time my children were threatened with charms. It got to a point where men of the Alausa Police Division asked us to stop bringing the matter to them.
“He, Pa Adebayo has removed my husband’s name from the official documents, including water supply, electricity bill, the property’s documentation at the Lands Registry, Alausa among others, and has been replacing my husband’s name with his in the last four years.
“The copies of the documents given to us were hijacked by one of the sons of Pa David Adebayo.
“We felt that once the building is sold and we share the proceeds, all the troubles they are making with my children would stop.
“If I die and my husband’s brother too is no more, his sons could claim ownership of the building since they have been carrying themselves as if their father is the sole owner.
“My position is that we should sell the house and share the money accordingly.”
Kudirat’s position was echoed by Risikat Adebayo, the younger wife of Ismail Adebayo, who explained that she was harassed when she visited the residence lately.
“The sons of my late husband’s brother poured water on me. They would hit my children unjustly and behave like hoodlums,” Risikat said.
Responding, however, Pa David Adebayo said he has always taken care of his younger brother’s family.
He said he never abandoned his younger brother’s children or his two wives.
He said: “I have never abandoned them. I visited the wives and even gave them money at a point.
“Now they said they want to sell the building and I told them that I won’t sell my own floor to anyone.
“Since my brother and I built the house, we never had any quarrel over the property, and the two wives knew nothing about how we related with each other.
“I would visit them in their home in the Itoki area of Ogun State and even give them some money to take care of themselves.
“There was a day I visited them at Itoki and my younger brother’s older wife assaulted me while I was going back to Agidingbi.
“I was invited by the Baale of Itoki and other community leaders who intervened in the matter.
“We have shared the building into two parts and they have been collecting money from renting out the apartment.
“They served us with a notice of shutdown for defaulting in land use charge running into N700,000.
“When I told Kudirat about it, she threatened to throw curses at me.
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”I have since ejected one of my sons who is causing problems and fighting with people in the building and he is no more in the building. Therefore, as far as I am concerned I am not going to sell my apartment.
“It is not true that I have removed their husband’s name from the documents. I have given them copies of the documents.”
Speaking on the matter, Michael Adebayo said he had always tried to ensure there was peace in the building by settling fights between his siblings and father.
“I tried as much as possible to intervene whenever there was a fight between my brothers, father, and children of my late uncle because we are one big family and there was never any quarrel between my father and his younger brother when he was alive,” he said.
He added that he was invited to a Yoruba television programme where he and others involved in the matter were urged to embrace amicable settlement.
He said: “We have been invited to a television programme for arbitration and we were told to go back and settle the matter amicably between ourselves.
“However, I have been calling my younger brother’s wives for settlement but they’re not forthcoming at all.
“We have scheduled another meeting for Tuesday next week and I am ready for a truce.
“They said they are not comfortable attending the meeting at Agidingbi, but I am not against any neutral venue for the parley.”READ FULL ARTICLE>>>
