I should have died, not my pregnant wife – Husband of Arepo victim

The husband of 25-year-old Damilola Fajana, who was killed by a stray bullet in the Arepo community, Ogun State, during a clash between members of the Oodua People’s Congress and some suspected pipeline vandals, says his life will never be the same again.

Bukayo, who was on admission at a hospital at the time of the incident, said his marriage to his late wife was barely one year old, adding that she was six months and two weeks pregnant.

He added that she was planning to give birth in the United States, having had a scan which showed that she was carrying a boy.

PUNCH Metro had reported on Friday that Damilola, a lawyer from Ire, Ekiti State, was in her car when she was hit by a stray bullet in the neck.

She was among three persons reportedly killed during the gun battle between the OPC members and the vandals, who were mostly Ijaw.  The traditional ruler of the community, Oba Solomon Atanda, led a protest on Friday. He said he would not allow Arepo to become a battleground.

Damilola’s husband told PUNCH Metro that his wife had left his sick bed in company with a driver a few minutes before she was killed.

He said, “Around 2am on Wednesday, I had serious pains and she rushed me to a private hospital near us. We knocked the hospital’s door for about 30 minutes, but nobody came out, so we left the place for another hospital in Ikeja, where she used for her ante-natal. She was six months and two weeks pregnant.

“She was with me till around 4pm when she said she wanted to go home. She was supposed to go to the immigration office for her data capture because she was to deliver her baby in the United States. But because of my illness, she postponed the appointment till Thursday.

“When she was about to leave, I decided to call someone to drive her home.”

Bukayo said he phoned them to know about their movement about eight minutes later, and was told they had arrived at the entrance into the community.

He said he did not hear from them until a few minutes later when he got a panic call from the driver, telling him that his wife had been shot in the neck.

He said he asked him to take her to a hospital in the area, where she was rejected.

An ambulance was said to have been organised to take her to a hospital in Lagos State, where the doctors on duty confirmed her dead.

Bukayo, while lamenting the tragedy, said he wished he had died in the place of his wife.

“It was barely a year we got married that this happened. I am saddened because she was my heart and brain. She was the reason for my existence.

“She was contented with the little I could afford us. I wish I had died and both my wife and my son ─ the pregnancy was a baby boy ─ had lived. At least, I would have had a son to survive me,” he said.

A family friend, Oladipupo Adegoke, said the incident had shaken Beachland Estate, where the Fajanas lived.

He called on the authorities to intervene in the crisis before there was more bloodshed.

“There are a lot of prominent Nigerians living in this place, and I usually tell people to live in Arepo because it is a peaceful place.

Punch Metro