Salesgirl killed by stray bullet during Yoruba Nation rally buried, mum ill

Ifeoluwa Oyeleke, the bereaved mother of Jumoke Oyeleke, the salesgirl killed by a stray bullet during the July 3 Yoruba Nation rally in Lagos, could not attend the burial of her 25-year-old daughter on Friday due to her health condition.

Our correspondent learnt that Ifeoluwa was “not in a good condition” since the tragedy struck and was excused from the burial to avoid a trauma that could worsen her situation.

Jumoke was buried at Atan Cemetery, Yaba, in a low-key funeral attended by a few family members and journalists.

Agitators for the Yoruba Nation had on July 3 gathered around the Gani Fawehinmi Park at Ojota, defying the presence of armed policemen and soldiers.

Jumoke was displaying soft drinks at her boss’ shop in a compound close to the rally ground when security men chased some demonstrators into the premises and shot at them.

The police denied killing her, claiming that she was stabbed by an unnamed person(s) and her corpse abandoned at the scene.

The state government later set up a coroner’s inquest to unravel the circumstances surrounding her death.

The autopsy, however, faulted the police’s claim and attributed the cause of death to “haemopericardium, disruption of the heart and lungs and missile injury to the chest.”

After two months in the mortuary, Jumoke was laid to rest on Friday in a sombre mood.

Her uncle, Wasiu Afolabi, who spoke to our correspondent on behalf of the family, said apart from mourning, the poor family bore the financial burden of mortuary and burial costs, adding that the deceased’s mother had yet to come out of grief.

He said, “The family paid for the mortuary bill and burial. We spent over N100,000. Jumoke’s mother was not present at the burial because she is not feeling well. She is not in a good condition and we cannot bring her here with the situation on the ground. However, she is aware of the burial.”

Afolabi expressed sadness over how the untimely death shattered plans the salesgirl had for herself and her siblings and demanded justice for the family.

He stated, “We felt really bad because she had been a good girl to the family. Her birthday is in September and she told her mum that she would love to celebrate her birthday as she had never celebrated it before. She had been saving some money for her birthday. It is painful that she could not witness it.“She promised to send her sisters to school with the proceeds of her work and make them lead better lives. Their father died long ago. She was the first child of the family and dropped out at JSS 3 due to financial constraints. We pray we get justice in the end.”