Mother takes own life after being avoided by daughter

Firstclass newsline:It is always going to be a day to remember not for
good but for a horrible and terrible incident for the residents of
Ajilekege Street, Pipeline bus stop, Idimu, Lagos State, on Friday
were thrown into confusion after a 55-year-old woman, Amoke Adeko,
jumped into a well in front of her residence.
Firstclass newsline learnt that the mother of five children had been
traumatised after her husband died eight months ago.
Officials of Lagos State Fire Service, led by Firefighter Tosin
Ologun, was said to have responded to a distress call from a resident
of the area.
Firstclass newsline, however,learnt that the woman was recovered dead
at about 11pm.
Her grandson was said to be marking his birthday in the Igando area on
the fateful day.
A resident told a source that Adeko's daughter, Amirat, the mother of
the birthday boy, had brought a package of food prepared during the
ceremony for her mother. It was said that Amirat, however, refused to
give the woman the package in person, but sent someone else to take
the food to her.
Firstclass newsline learnt that Adeko took the action as being shunned
by her daughter and decided to end her life.
A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, "The woman had
not been herself since her husband died. Amirat brought the food for
her that afternoon, but she avoided her and sent it through someone
elese.
"I don't know why she did that, but the mother felt embarrassed
because she saw her daughter from afar. It was around 5pm. About two
hours later, she jumped into the well."
Firstclass newsline learnt that a neighbour, who heard a sudden thud,
rushed to the well and saw Adeko's slippers beside it. He was said to
have raised the alarm after he went to her room and looked round the
compound but did not find her.
Sympathisers were trooping into the premises while burial rites for
the deceased were ongoing when a source visited the neighbourhood on
Saturday.
Adeko's first son, Ahmed, said he was not aware that Amirat shunned
their mother, adding that she usually visited him and his siblings.
He added, "She used to come to my place; spend some weeks and visit my
sister too. This is her husband's house and we can't say she should
leave. Before the incident happened, she had been with my sister for
some weeks. We took her to her church and after some prayers, we
decided that she should go back home. That we don't come here always
does not mean we abandoned her. My dad died eight months ago; we did
not abandon her.
"I don't know what led to the incident but she was not traumatised.
That day, my sister was marking her son's birthday and I sent her to
bring food for mum. She brought the food around 2pm. It was around
5.30pm that a resident called to inform me about the incident. She
(Amirat) is not around now but she did not tell me that she gave the
food to somebody else to deliver to her. What she told me was that she
met her upstairs."
A friend of the deceased, Grace Agboyin, while lamenting her death,
said she was the one that used to look after her.
Agboyin, who spoke in Yoruba, said, "We were very close. Since the
trauma became serious, I always went to her shop to chat with her. I
ensured that she ate and used her drugs regularly. She had grown lean
since her husband died because his death really touched her. She used
to visit her children.
"I was in my shop when I heard people shouting that Iya Ahmed (Adeko)
had jumped into the well. I was very surprised."
Firstclass also learnt that in a related development, a 60-year-old
man, Adeoye Lasisi, said to be having challenges with his sight, was
recovered dead on Friday from a well in his compound on Ayayo Road,
Imota, in the Ikorodu area of Lagos.
A resident of the area, Sikiru Atolagbe, who spoke with our
correspondent on the telephone, said the man's wife had called him to
have his bath in the morning of the fateful day, when she found his
effects by the side of the well.
He said, "According to his wife, the man had an eye defect. He woke up
at 4am on Friday and asked her to heat water for him to bath, that he
wanted to go to hospital. She later called him that the water was in
the bathroom, but did not see him. It was while she was searching
around the compound that she saw a touch and his slippers beside the
well."
The Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Mr. Rasaq Fadipe, confirmed
the two incidents and urged the public to ensure that their wells were
covered and locked whenever they were not in use.
He said, "An elderly woman deliberately jumped into a well of about
130 feet in the Idimu area. A partially blinded man was also recovered
dead from the well in his house in Imota by a firefighter, Adejo
Taiwo.
"People should ensure that their wells have good covers and ensure
that they (wells) are properly locked whenever they are not ready to
be used.
Firstclassnewsline.net