Adetutu Adefolabi-Eshiet, the first child
of a former Chairman of the Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area, Alhaji
Morufdeen Adefolabi, has described the death of her father in the Hajj
stampede as a nightmare.
The family of the politician, who
represented Ifako Ijaiye constituency in the House of Representatives
between 2007 and 2011, until Tuesday was unsure of the fate of the
ex-member of the House of Representatives after the stampede.
He was on pilgrimage and was rounding off the Hajj rites when the stampede hit the holy land claiming over 700 lives
Many Nigerian pilgrims had died in the stampede which also claimed the lives of nationals of other countries.
After
the stampede, the telephone lines of the politician had reportedly gone
dead, while efforts to locate him had proved abortive.
Adetutu, who spoke with our correspondent
on the telephone on Wednesday, said the travel firm that handled his
trip to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj broke the news of his death to the
family.
She said, “My father’s death is still
like a bad dream. I cannot believe he is dead. He was a father who cared
so much about his children and their happiness. Even though he was a
Muslim, he allowed me to marry a Christian and a non-Yoruba. He was
totally detribalised. I have yet to come to terms with the news of his
death. I find it difficult to mourn.’’
Adetutu added that the search for her father was not an easy task for the family.
Earlier, a family member who did not want
his name in print, said the travel company did not give the family an
option of having his corpse brought back home for burial.
Source: Punch Newspaper
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