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I don’t want my grandchildren to die of hunger like their father–Grandmother begging for food in Ibadan


We, at ETERNITY REMINDERS are moved by the pathetic story of this family and hereby call on well meaning members of the public to come to their aid. On our own, we will be contacting the writer of the story with a view to opening an account for the family (if they don't yet have one) and circulate the account to the well meaning members of the public.

I don’t want my grandchildren to die of hunger like their father–Grandmother begging for food in Ibadan


Awoniran with the children and their mother (l)

The quietness that had become a common feature of the city of Ibadan was obstructed last week with the disturbing news of a 75-year-old woman  seen with seven children in Basorun area of Ibadan.

She was alleged to have kidnapped the children whose ages range between two and 10. It was not until a day after that the true biological relationship between the woman and the children was revealed by the Oyo State Police Command.

The Commissioner of Police, Oye State Command Leye Oyebade, said it had been established that the kids were grandchildren of the woman and that their father died last year, leaving behind the children and a physically challenged wife, who once sold herbs at motor parks in Iwo-Road.

To demonstrate compassion towards the plight of the children, the command donated food stuffs and other household items to the suffering family.

The commissioner said, “We were able to find the mother and establish the biological connections with the old woman. She is the grandmother of the children and at the time the police intercepted her, she was in a process of going to a media house with a view to soliciting for fund for the upkeep of the children.

“This is a sad situation but the state police command, as part of its responsibility to the people, provided some food stuffs and other items to help save the family. It is a contribution we have to make.”

Lofty as the gesture was, it could best be regarded as a quick fix to a growing problem because beyond the temporary relief to the family is a more difficult future; one that had the capacity to threaten the lives of the children and their grandmother, Olatutu Awoniyi.
A further check at the living standard of the family revealed extreme penury and perhaps the worst living condition mankind could plunge into.


Father of the children, Idowu Awoniran was a modest vulcaniser, who was described by friends and family members as loving, hardworking and pleasant. He married his physically challenged wife, Kafayat, 30, and was blessed within a short time with 10 children, among whom seven are surviving.

The surviving children are the first child, Abiodun, 10; two sets of twins, Dorcas, David, Ebun and Iyanu; and a set of triplets among whom Elijah and Maria are still alive. The last of the triplets died after the death of Awoniran.

Awoniran’s high rate reproductive ability, which further investigation revealed that it runs in the family, was however stained by a life changing event that cost his life last year, aged 35.

He had travelled to Ikire and was returning when the vehicle he was travelling in was involved in an accident that claimed four lives. He survived, but with the lower part of his right hand badly injured, doctors advised that it should be severed from other parts of the body. Having lost his hand, he could no longer work as a vulcaniser because of the physical demands of the profession.

He became a bus conductor and managed to pool together some money to develop a room on a piece of land that belongs to his father in Isebo area of Ibadan. But the rosy promise of a new beginning suffered again when, according to his brother, Kehinde, 39, Idowu fell ill and never recovered.

Kehinde said, “On January 28, 2015, my brother fell ill and could not do anything again. He was brought to our mother’s place at Laogun by his wife. We are from a poor family with limited financial resources but we did everything within our powers to take care of him. Eventually and sadly, we lost him on August 1, 2015. He was sick for seven months and died with his children on his chest in the room he shared with our mother and the seven children. He was buried on the plot of land bought by our father.

“Our father bought the piece of land at Isebo area of Ibadan. I built a room on the land and my late brother did the same on the land. He lived there with his wife and children until sickness forced him out. It is not a comfortable place to live because when there is rain, we witness heavy flooding in the area.”

Despite being 39, the deceased’s brother looks much older than his age. He operates a commercial motorcycle around Laogun area of Ibadan, which is the major source of livelihood for the family. From the daily proceeds, he supports his own family, the seven children left behind by his brother and his 75-year-old mother.

He said, “Taking care of these children is the responsibility of my sister and me. I visit here regularly and give whatever I have to mama for the care of the children. Sometimes I will give her N200 or N300 depending on what I have. The truth is that I am also struggling. I was a cobbler but when I was robbed thrice and lost all I had, including tools of my trade, I ran to a dealer who gave me a motorcycle on hire purchase. I am now a commercial motorcycle operator.

“My other sister just lost her husband so we face a difficult future over the care of these children. Our father, who is now 80, has gone blind with old age. He retired from a construction company but his pension and gratuity were not paid. With no financial strength, his health deteriorated and now depends on people for his daily life activities.
“Mama moved to Laogun four years ago. It is our maternal family house but the house is falling apart and she has been asked to vacate the room she is using so that repair works can be done on the house,” added Kehinde.

Perhaps, the step that the grandmother took on the day she was apprehended with the children could be one that would redefine her destiny and that of the children. She had hoped to tell the whole world, using the power of the media house at Basorun, that her family was dying of hunger.

It was indeed a step that could have also ended her life in the hands of the angry mob who thought she stole the children. The life changing moment was when she was prevented from using the media house to tell her story.

But the gifts from the police will run out sooner or later and she will return to her life of hunger unless help comes from somewhere; a help the children need to survive. From all indications, the continued survival of the seven children dangles from a tiny rope that can snap anytime. They have no access to medical care and they wear rag-like clothes each day.

In fact, when our correspondent located the family on Wednesday, they were half naked. With their granny, they live in a mud house that has obvious signs of dilapidation. After a look around the building, our correspondent observed that the roof of their room leaked. It was gathered that each time there is rain, especially at night, the pauperised family move to a corner of the room where they use a ragged mat and continue their sleep while the other portion of the room is taken over by a pool of water.
The grandmother, Mrs Olatutu Awoniran, confirms that two of her children are responsible for the upkeep of the seven children. She said three of the children attending schools were sent away by the owner of the school when the family could not pay their school fees.

She said, “The three children that are attending schools have been sent away because we have not paid their school fees. But the teachers came this week and said they can still be attending classes until the money is paid. I guess they did that after realising how poor we are and because their father is dead,” she said, while also recalling the event that led to her arrest.

“On the day I was arrested by the police, hunger drove me to Basorun where I intended to seek the help of Nigerians through the radio station there but I was turned back. Someone at the gate said the station was not transmitting.

“I had no money for transport fare so I began to trek home with the children despite the distance from Basorun to Laogun.  Suddenly, I saw people gathering, saying that I stole the children. Then the police came and asked me questions.  I told them that I was going home with my children.

“More policemen came in vans and I told them that the children were left behind by my last born who died last year. They doubted my explanation, wondering how a man and a woman would have all the children. I told them that they were two sets of twins and a set of triplets but they still put us in the van and drove us to the station in Iwo-Road where I was questioned again.

“To ascertain my claim, I was driven to Monatan where we met the mother of the children. She was asked to go with them but instead of taking us to Iwo-Road police station, we were driven to the state police command in Eleyele where we met the Commissioner of Police who gave us food stuff after ascertaining my claims.

These children have never been taken to a hospital because we don’t have money to pay for treatment. I look up to God for help because we are going through difficulties. I don’t want them to die of poverty just like their father,” she added.

One of the residents of the area, Mrs. Folasade Aina, said the children needed care. She said they were often left in the care of neighbours while the grandmother went out to look for money and food.

“What you see is a pathetic story of a family that needs help. I have never seen such poverty. Mama’s son died in the room because the family had no money to take good care of him. He could have survived if he was regularly taken to hospital for treatment.
“The children know only the grandmother as their mother. Even when the mother comes around, she means nothing to them but a stranger. No amount of help is too little to save this family from hunger. We all love mama but her struggle over these children is killing her,” she said.

Mother of the children, Kafayat, 30, told our correspondent that since her husband died last year, she had done menial jobs to raise money for the children’s upkeep until she fell ill and got sacked by the owner of a local canteen where she last worked as a dish washer.

“My husband died about a year ago and my children have since been living with their grandmother. When my husband could not work again, I had to go out in search of work so that the family would have something to eat. I worked as a dish washer in a canteen but six days after I began, I was called from home that my husband had died. Before I got home, he had been buried.


“I have since been doing menial jobs around Ibadan. I live in Alabebe area of the city and bring whatever I could gather from where I worked to my children regularly. But lately, I had typhoid fever and needed to be treated. I had no money for treatment in a hospital so someone helped me with herbs. While recuperating, I learned that I had been sacked from where I worked. I have since been without a job.”

SOURCE: PUNCH NEWSPAPERS, Saturday 4th June, 2016




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