Co-tenants of Mr. Ismaila Ladoja, who lives in one of the
rooms of a 10-room apartment in Alagbado area of
Lagos, have always suspected something unusual was
going on between him and his 22-year-old daughter.
Ife’s house
Punch reports that Ladoja, who is a bricklayer has
always been in the microscopic eyes of other tenants
because they all believe he sleeps with his first daughter,
Ife, who is 22 years of age. Although no one wanted to
bell the cat even when they saw signs that the little girl
was bleeding, some of them however spoke with Punch
anonymously.
The report which includes lots of accusations and
counter accusations, is said to have involved many of the
co-tenants confronting the bricklayer a number of times
but his denial made many believe that it was truly a
figment of their imaginations until they noticed the young
girl’s tummy protruding which was followed by bleeding.
“We noticed over the last few months that Ife’s tummy
was growing bigger. We knew something was wrong but
one day, we noticed that she was bleeding,” a neighbor
who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
One of the occupants of the house alleged that Ladoja
and the girl’s mother might have colluded to abort Ife’s
pregnancy. Making it known why she thinks the mother
of the young girl might be involved in the matter, the
neighbor said:
“He beats his wife regularly. The woman dare not talk. In
fact, when she was asked about it, she flatly denied the
allegations. “Everybody in the compound knew what was
going on. So, the girl was kept indoors for about a week.
We noticed that she fainted a few times when she was
kept at home. So, they rushed her to the hospital.
“We asked the man where he took the girl to but he said
she had been taken to a hospital because she was ill but
would not disclose where. How can we report to the
police when we have not been able to catch him on top of
his daughter?
“ Sometimes, he would send his other children out of the
house, and when we ask the children why, they tell us
that their father is inside with their elder sister and had
asked them to go play outside,” one of the tenants said.
Although the tenants have not been able to produce
evidences to buttress their claims aside from the
observations, It was made known that the man was
accused of doing same where he was living before he
moved to this present apartment he is living with his wife
and 7 children.
When one of his former neighbors on 4, Ajibola Street
was contacted, the former tenant who like the rest,
pleaded anonymity, alleged that Ladoja had been
suspected to be sleeping with his daughter when he was
living there for a long time before he moved to the
present apartment.
“Do you expect the wife to tell you the truth? She is just
a poor woman who is helpless and does not want to put
her husband in trouble. He was always locked up with
the girl while the other children stayed outside when we
were living together. He always denied sleeping with the
girl.“But the girl was always moody. She cried
sometimes. When we asked what was wrong with her,
she would never say it,” he said.
When Ladoja’s landlord, an elderly woman who
identified herself as Mrs. Shorinolu, was contacted, she
made it known that although she doesn’t stay in the
house, but if he is found wanting, he should be arrested
instantly to face the law. However, Mrs. Shorinolu’s
daughter, a headmistress of a school, who also oversees
the welfare of the house made it known that various
reports reached her over the man’s actions which made
her gave him a quit notice but all to no avail.
When Ife’s mother, who is also Ladoja’s wife was
contacted, she denied the accusations saying she trusted
her husband and that he cannot do anything like that.
The 40-year-old woman said:
“We suffer so much and my husband labours day and
night to put food on the table. We have seven children
and have been using a one-room apartment since we got
married 22 years ago. So, what do we have that anybody
would envy to the extent of cooking up such allegation?
“It is a total lie that she fainted or was bleeding. She only
had malaria which became really serious and we had to
take her to someone who treated her.”
When the wife was asked to give the phone number of the
doctor at Holyfield Hospital, who treated her daughter.
She said her daughter was not treated at Holyfield.
“I took her to a drug store owner, who gave her drips and
few drugs. Ife currently lives with my mother. “How can
someone sleep with his own child? Is it wrong to love
one’s child unconditionally?”
The woman who began to cry, lamenting that she had no
idea why her family was being victimized even though
they were poor could not however give the contact of her
daughter saying she needs to inform the girl first. She
also claimed she does not know the phone number of her
daughter. She also declined giving the address of where
the girl was staying.
When Ladoja himself was later contacted, Ladoja
explained that he had no idea why anybody would think
he would do such a thing to his child.
“Why would I as a Yoruba man do such a thing to my
adult child? May God punish those people who have
been saying those bad things about me. They simply
hate me, ” he said.
Asked why he took his daughter to hospital and why she
was bleeding, the bricklayer said, “She simply had
malaria. Truly, we had kept her indoors for some days. It
is just another lie by my neighbours that she was
bleeding. “ After some days and her situation deteriorated,
we rushed her to the hospital. We had given her drug for
her malaria but it did not seem to work.”
Ladoja who said he could not remember the name of the
hospital where her daughter is receiving treatment said:
“God will bless you for calling me. I am really happy you
want to publish this because the world needs to
understand the lie this people have been spreading about
me. Did anyone of them catch me red-handed sleeping
with my daughter?”
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