I don’t know why anyone would want to kill me

The story of Bose Olagunju, wife of Ibadan top businessman, Oladele Olagunju, the architect who was murdered by kidnappers last year, would surely provoke sympathy, especially from those who  benefitted from her husband’s generosity. Mrs Olagunju, who is still mourning the gruesome murder of her husband even after a year, on December 3, narrowly escaped an attempt on her life. She recounts her ordeal in this interview with SEGUN ADEBAYO.

It is over a year that your husband was killed by kidnappers after they were said to have collected about N2.5 million ransom. How have you been coping with life without him?

It has not been easy. The fact is that I don’t even know where to start from or what to say at this point other than to keep thanking God. How do I even explain the situation I have found myself? There has been pressure from all sides. I have been under constant pressure from enemies who pretend to be friends, those who are claiming what does not belong to them. I really can’t start to explain what I have gone through in the last one year. How would you explain a situation whereby different people keep coming up with unfathomable claims: things that you really can’t explain what or how it happened. Pastors of doom have approached me to tell me different stories. Yes, some people have been of great help financially and morally. Some good ones have been checking on us as well.

Could you shed more light on some of those difficult moments when you wished your husband was alive?

I have had quite a number of moments like that. But the most disturbing one came two weeks after my husband passed away; some of his people came to me and said I should compile the list of everything my husband had before he died and send it to them. I am not going to mention anybody’s names now. I will do that at the right time. I started receiving calls from different people. In fact, one man, a supplier of the company, called me and said he’s now the Managing Director of Dekit Construction Company. He even claimed to be a shareholder of the company and came with a supposedly company’s lawyer. I told him that he could not be the company’s lawyer. This man also claimed to be the MD and suddenly wanted to take over the quarry. And some pastors from one of the fast growing churches in Nigeria claimed that they had been given the quarry as a gift. It was a big issue at that time and the case was reported at the Toll-Gate Police Station, after which the quarry was locked by the police. But to my surprise, the key was handed over to the so-called MD. After sometime, he moved in and started selling the company’s equipment. As the wife of the deceased, I asked for the board’s resolution to ascertain his claim, but we found out that there was nothing of such. They liaised with some people who are close to my late husband, who gave them an instruction to continue to occupy the quarry. A certain percentage was allegedly agreed upon to be given to them without my consent. When I was about to expose the church, there was a serious disagreement between the church and the supposed MD, and after which they said they wanted to take their equipment away from the quarry. One of the so-called pastors said if we knew that he bought the quarry in the company’s name, we would have made sure he changed it before he died. He said that he had checked the details of the company’s main office it is in his name and he can’t give it out. Some people published the company’s name in the national dailies, parading themselves as agents of AMCON. How can you explain a situation whereby you sued a company and its directors and you got an order from the court to take over and preserve the property of the company, pending when all parties would be heard, but the person still went to the site to sell the equipment of the company. I don’t seem to understand where such brazing act of lawlessness could be permitted. He even claimed to be a staff of AMCON. These people don’t respect the rule of law. I don’t understand the law we practise in this country anymore. How can somebody be making life-threatening statements and actions and nobody is cautioning them? I am helpless. I am a widow. I have no one to cry to for help. I don’t know who to trust at this moment. My life and lives of my children should be protected.

How have you been coping with three children without their father?

It has been very challenging. I never envisaged my husband’s death. Not even 40 years from now. Our marriage had just clocked 20 years when he was kidnapped and killed. My husband said he didn’t want me to work when he was alive. He said he wanted me to stay at home and raise the kids in the way of God while he provided for the family. His death took away a big part of my existence. I don’t know when I would recover from the shock of his death. There were times I would wake up and start weeping, asking myself questions. Could this really be true? Could it be true that my husband is not coming back? How do I raise these children without their father? I am completely and hopelessly helpless. When he was alive, I saw different faces, but the moment he died, those faces disappeared. I give glory to God Almighty; He has been a faithful God.

He was said to be a renowned engineer and a generous man; how are you sustaining his legacy?

I am neither an engineer nor an architect. I don’t know much about his work, but he took his time to explain certain things pertaining to his work to me. He told me a few things about the terms and techniques that they deploy in the field, which I have been handling for some time. It has not been easy but I have managed to keep my head above all distractions and move in to save our company and raise the children the way he would love. I don’t want his track records to be destroyed and I am trusting God to see me through this dark moment. He will crown all our efforts with success. There are many threats and attacks from the devilish people who want to slow the progress of the company down. For example since last year, a man has been in our quarry taking full possession, selling granites, equipment with record of sales of over 50 million naira purportedly on the orders of a court, which is not true . The police were informed but nothing seems to have been done about it. He claimed to be the MD, partner and a shareholder in connivance with his lawyer. I was nearly paraded as suspect on April 12, 2016 at anti-kidnapping at Eleyele Police Headquarters, Ibadan, Oyo State for an offence I knew nothing about. A petition was written to the former Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase and he charged his monitoring team to start their investigation. On April 3, we were invited to the force headquarters in Abuja, but this person denied all the allegations in the presence of the panel.

You were said to have escaped an assassination attempt on December 3, what really happened?

We were coming from Akure, when some unknown numbers started calling me. But I don’t usually pick up unknown numbers. In fact, I didn’t want to pick the calls, but my brother who drove the vehicle and another occupant of the car told me to pick the call. I picked the last number that called, but I did not talk and the caller too did not talk. After about 27 seconds that the caller did not talk, I dropped the call. Barely 10 minutes after dropping the call, we were attacked along Power Line area, Ipetu-Ijesa, Osun State. At first, I thought I was dreaming. I could not believe what happened. We heard gunshots. There were cars in front of and behind us. Suddenly, we saw about 30 men, armed to the teeth coming out and taking over the two side of the road. They started shooting and kept shooting as they approached our car. They were shooting at my car. At first, I thought they were armed robbers, because they didn’t cover their faces. But the reality dawned on me when they opened fired at our car only. That was when I knew we were their targets and the next thing we could do was to run for our dear lives. I jumped out of our Toyota Land Cruiser, which belongs to my late dad. Different thoughts started coming into my head. What do these people want? Who are they and why are they shooting at us? Could this be how my late husband was kidnapped and killed? The scenario looked just like what his driver narrated to us when he died. When the gunmen discovered that we were trying to escape, they continued shooting in our direction even as we ran. We had to leave the car ignition on, with no shoes or wrapper on my body and ran backwards. The police and the OPC heard the gun shots and started coming towards our direction in their patrol vehicle. They chased the gunmen back and brought our vehicle to us. Since that day, I have not been able to live a normal life. I am living in palpable fear. My children are scared. I don’t even know where to go and when to go out. I can’t even go to church. My life and the lives of my children are in danger. I want concerned Nigerians to rise in my defence.