‘My stepdad killed my brother’

                                   

A teenager, Omobowale Sunmola, yesterday told a Lagos High Court in Igbosere that her stepfather and his mother allegedly killed her elder brother and dumped him in a canal.
She told Justice Sedoten Ogunsanya that the incident occurred at their Maryland, Lagos home in 2014.
She said she was 11 at that time, adding that she was about to begin Junior Secondary School (JSS) 1, while her brother, Tunde, was 13.
Omobowale, now 17, testified during the trial of her mother, Margaret Olufunmilayo Odunlade, her stepfather, Folorunsho Emmanuel and his mother, Funke Maxwell, for the alleged offence.
Odunlade, Emmanuel and Maxwell were arraigned by the Lagos State Government in 2014, on a two-count charge of manslaughter and misconduct with regard to a body.
Prosecuting counsel Adebayo Haroun said the alleged offences were committed about 6am, on August 2, 2014, at 17, Emmanuel Street, Maryland, Ikeja, Lagos.
He alleged that the defendants killed Tunde Sunmola by beating him up and not taking him to hospital for treatment of injuries he sustained on his leg.
Odunlade was also accused of dumping Tunde’s body in a canal.
The prosecutor said the offences contravened sections 222 and 163 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
Omobowale, led in evidence by Haroun, testified as the third prosecution witness.
The witness said at the time, she lived with her mother, stepfather and his mum, while Tunde lived in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, with their grandmother, Mrs. Arinola Sunmola.
She said Tunde was eager to see her and their mother, so their grandmother persuaded his mother to come to Ijebu with her (Sunmola) and take him to Lagos on August 1.
Omobowale said when they got to Lagos, “my mother asked Tunde to start moving ahead of us and when I asked her why, she said she didn’t want people in the area to know that Tunde was her son.“That night when my stepfather returned from work, he asked my mother, ‘who is this boy?’
Following the conclusion of testimonies, Justice Sedoten Ogunsanya adjourned further hearing till June 26.