Andrew Odeh, the father of the late Happiness, a student at the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun State, who was allegedly murdered on August 9 and her body found two days later, talks to DAUD OLATUNJI about the incident
Tell us more about yourself.
Odeh
I am 57-year-old. My daughter was 22 years old. I am from Benue State.
What do you do for a living?
I am a retired civil servant. Her mother is a petty trader. If the government can do anything for her, I will be happy.
How did you know about your daughter’s death?
A boy came to us and said he received a call from Iperu. He said the person who called him said he saw Happiness’ phone and that the last call was to the boy. He asked if he knew the owner of the phone and the boy said yes. He then said that he was asked to come and collect the phone at Iperu police station.
Were you looking for your daughter at the time?
We had been calling Happiness on her phone for two days but her line was switched off. That was before the boy came.
What did you do after the boy came to your house to inform you?
That very morning, we left for Iperu. He told me that the caller said we should go to the police station in Ode-Remo when we arrive in Iperu,.
Did you find out who actually called the boy that informed you?
When we got there (police station), it was the divisional police officer of that police station that called the boy. The DPO interrogated him first. The DPO asked the boy whether he called my daughter and when he called my daughter. The DPO also asked the boy who he was to the deceased. The boy said they were friends.
Do you know the boy as your daughter’s friend?
No. That was the first day I saw him
Did you go alone with the boy to the police station in Iperu?
I went with the boy, his friend, and my friend.
What did the DPO tell you?
The DPO called my friend in and told him that the owner of the phone was dead. He said he saw the phone beside the road and that the lady was dead.
The DPO disclosed the bad news to my friend. My friend could not tell me what the DPO said at the police station until we got home; that was when he broke the sad news to me. I said there was no problem because it (death) had already happened.
How did her mother react to the news?
That Wednesday, a day after Happiness went out, my wife went before me to Iperu-Remo to look for our daughter. She was not at home when the boy came on Thursday but when she came back on Thursday, she got to know about the news. I am not myself as I am talking to you. I am just forcing myself to talk to you. I don’t even know what I feel. Her mother had stopped eating since then.
Did Happiness tell you where she was going on the day she was last seen?
She said she was going to Iperu at Saapade for a movie practice.
Was she an actress?
I was aware of her movement. I don’t know whether she was an actress.
Since the police said she was dead, did they show you her corpse?
I rquested that and they took me to the mortuary. I saw the body there. I went there a second time.
What do you plan to do?
I don’t have anything to do. I can’t have my daughter back. So, what I am after is how to bury her.
Have you been given a date for you to collect her body?
No, I plan to go back to the station.
What kind of person was Happiness?
Were you looking for your daughter at the time?
We had been calling Happiness on her phone for two days but her line was switched off. That was before the boy came.
What did you do after the boy came to your house to inform you?
That very morning, we left for Iperu. He told me that the caller said we should go to the police station in Ode-Remo when we arrive in Iperu,.
Did you find out who actually called the boy that informed you?
When we got there (police station), it was the divisional police officer of that police station that called the boy. The DPO interrogated him first. The DPO asked the boy whether he called my daughter and when he called my daughter. The DPO also asked the boy who he was to the deceased. The boy said they were friends.
Do you know the boy as your daughter’s friend?
No. That was the first day I saw him.
Did you go alone with the boy to the police station in Iperu?
I went with the boy, his friend, and my friend.
What did the DPO tell you?
The DPO called my friend in and told him that the owner of the phone was dead. He said he saw the phone beside the road and that the lady was dead.
The DPO disclosed the bad news to my friend. My friend could not tell me what the DPO said at the police station until we got home; that was when he broke the sad news to me. I said there was no problem because it (death) had already happened.
How did her mother react to the news?
It was reported that Happiness was raped. Is that true?
Yes, according to the report from the police. They said it was a commercial motorcyclist that took them, and Happiness was unaware of the place she was going. She only assumed the motorcyclist was plying the right path.
Did you see the body?
Yes. I saw the body of the late Happiness.
What was your observation? Was any part missing?
I saw the body and there were bruises on her body, especially on her face. It appeared to me that she struggled with her abductors.
As the SUG president, how did Happiness emerge as the winner of the beauty pageant?
Well, we had several contestants. Out of about five contestants, she emerged the winner after several levels of screening. She deserved it, contrary to the rumour about the Miss MAPOLY Pageant. We heard that the incident had to do with her emergence as Miss MAPOLY, but there is nothing attached to it. She received N10,000 cash prize, a campus ambassadorship with Zenith Bank and a beauty accessory company was about to contact her to become its campus ambassador.
What lessons can others learn from this tragedy?
Students should be cautious. It is also a message the institution has been passing across to the students repeatedly. The rector has warned several times that students should be in their various homes at 7pm. It was mandated that students shouldn’t come into the school premises in tinted vehicles. The school, on its own, has been taking security measures and it continuously sensitises the students to ensure they take precautions and not go where they don’t know. We will just urge the governor to improve security and ensure that things are put in place to protect students and other residents.