STAR DISAPPEARANCE: The Strange Case of Dr. Oniororo
Bolaji Aluko
------------------------------------------------------------------
STAR DISAPPEARANCE: The Strange Case of Dr. Oniororo
------------------------------------------------------------------
Tribune Saturday, February 23, 2002
Where is Dr. Abayomi Oniororo? If dead how, where?
By Kunle Abiola
HE is newly wedded. He got married precisely on December 27, 2001, not
quite eight weeks ago. He was just settling down to savour the joy of
matrimony as young couples are wont to. Of course he had dreams as he
was just 29 years old before his mysterious disappearance. For example
the dream of a blossoming marriage
blessed with healthy children, the dreams of fulfilling the
responsibility which the ailment of his father who suffered paralysis as
a result of strokes placed on him. Yes, also the dream of living to
become at least greater than his father, Chief Niyi Oniororo a notable
publisher and social critic. Dr. Abayomi Oniororo (not a medical doctor)
was a staff of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs nevertheless, all
his hopes and dreams are killed and his aspirations cut short as his
whereabouts are yet to be known by his young wife, ailing father, mother
and his siblings.
According to the wife Banke, who was living with him at Kubwa in Abuja
“Abayomi on the morning of Friday, February 15, said he was going to the
office and would do a night shift. I felt uncomfortable because
ordinarily he does not go for night shift and again, if he was going for
night shift why must he leave at 9 am and not wait till evening? But he
took time to explain to me that he wanted to change from the session
where he was to another one. And so needed to go and see somebody with
whom he was to arrange. He therefore promised to come back as early as
possible the next morning. Sincerely, I begged him not to go to the
office on this fateful day because I did not feel easy and was sick but
he pleaded with me to please understand his position which I grudgingly
did. So when it was nine o’clock the second day and I did not see him, I
started to be worried, because he always keeps to his promises.
By 10, 11, 12 o’clock, I still did not see him, I knew something was
wrong and I was thinking of where to go and look for him when a friend
of his who works in another office came to look for him in the house and
this friend said Yomi came to his office the previous day in the
afternoon around 2 o’clock and that he gave him an appointment for 12
noon on Saturday. When I told him that I had not seen Yomi, since he
left home the previous day he said I should not worry and that maybe he
went on an official assignment and could not get back to me before he
left and that he would soon be back.
“My husband did not come back home on that Friday and neither did he on
Saturday and Sunday. By Monday morning I was sore worried. I had been to
all his friends’ houses with no luck of knowing where he was. I went to
his office and after some delays somebody attended to me and told me
that he had been sent to Makurdi on official assignment and that he
would be back the next morning. With this information, I went back home
to again wait endlessly for the return of my husband who was never to
really come back. But on Tuesday the same man who attended to me at his
office on Monday came to our house and told me that he spoke with Yomi
and that he said he had gone to Lagos from Makurdi and that I should
meet him in Ibadan because we already had plans of travelling to Ibadan
for his younger sister’s wedding coming up this weekend.
I felt confused with this piece of information because I was told that
his car was in the car park at his office and I knew he would not have
gone to Ibadan without the car and also I didn’t have enough money on me
and he himself was aware before he left home so, how did he expect me to
have gone to Ibadan? Nevertheless, I packed and headed for Ibadan. It
was when I got to Ibadan that I was told that My Abayomi had died in a
motor accident at Makurdi.” with Saturday Tribune she was at the brink
of tears and anguish was written all over her youthful body and as if
hallucinating. In fact, she was in a pitiable condition.
Chief Niyi Oniororo, was a different sight entirely as he was saying
things as if he was in a trance. He was full of words like “they have
made me naked” the enemies can now rejoice at my downfall” “My hope is
gone” and a host of other unsavoury utterances. He told ST that “On
Tuesday Banke phoned that she did not see Yomi after he left home some
few days ago. We were utterly confused when she said this. So, we
summoned courage and phoned his office where they told us that he was
dead.
Initially, what we were told on the phone was that he died in an
accident with three other staff from his office and that their corpses
were at Makurdi, but later from the same office, they said he was buried
alongside the others who died in the accident and later we were told
that he was not on an official assignment. In fact, it has been a series
of conflicting stories from the office which makes it sound to me as if
there is somebody who wants to hide something and that the truth of the
case is not being told. I am confused and do not know what to think or
do. Or how can they arrange a mass burial for somebody who died and had
his identity card on him? Even how could they have done that without
waiting for the family members or one of them to come and identify the
corpse as the people in his office are aware that his wife lives in
Abuja with him. Then why are they shrouding everything in mystery?
Please let them tell me where my son is.”
Chief Oniororo claimed that Abayomi before his disappearance was the
breadwinner of the family as he (father) had been incapacitated since
about two years ago when he suffered paralysis. He lamented to ST that,
“this boy was the one who was helping me to take care of the house and
he had been encouraging me and his mother. Lately he has been the light
of the family but now the enemies have snuffed him out. I am in a mess,
a deep one. It would have been better if these people had killed me.”
Meanwhile, when ST called Abayomi’s office in Abuja on Thursday, the
lady who answered the telephone claimed that she was not competent to
give any detail about Abayomi and that the man who could have given the
details required was not available. Though there were about three follow
up calls were met with the same attitude and answer.
By and large the questions on the lips of those who are concerned and
sympathisers is “where is Abayomi Oniororo? Is he dead or alive?”
To compound the mystery, the police in Abuja told our correspondent that
they knew nothing about the whole story.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Adarieri Akokerahie
Netters,
The story below is a sad one to me. This is pathetic
and painful. Anything can really happen in Nigeria.
Was this boy killed and or murdered by his enemies?
And who did?
Please, I will like to have any other useful
information about the circumstances that has led to
the shaddy disappearance of this young doctor.
With tears
A.A.
=== message truncated ===
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Everything you'll ever need on one web page
from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts
http://uk.my.yahoo.com