The family of a Nigerian student who
was stabbed to death in the US has cried out to the Federal Government
to help them get justice for their son, writes ARUKAINO UMUKORO
From the age of 11, Jamal Oladapo had a
lifelong dream. The 21-year-old Nigerian student who was born in the
United States wanted to become a producer. He also wanted to make his
loving mother, Kari Jolaoso, who raised him up as a single parent, proud
by achieving the goal and attaining academic success.
And he worked hard at it. “I have been
working as an inspiring producer for the past nine years. I have had the
pleasure of working with Top Dawg Entertainment and other local
artistes. On my journey to learning my craft, I had a chance to
volunteer for Warner Bros and experience how it creates music,” Oladapo
gushed with pride on his LinkedIn page.
While he pursued his dreams, Oladapo, who lived with his mother, helped her with the family grocery shop business.
The young man focused on his dream until he was cut short by a cruel death.
Oladapo, a graduate of Birmingham High
School and student of the Los Angeles Film School, was stabbed to death
by unknown persons on Sunday, July 24, while jogging in his
neighbourhood in Northridge, Los Angeles, California.
An autopsy report revealed that the deceased, who was the only son of his mother, died from severe stab wounds to his chest.
Prior to his death, he was said to have had an argument with three men around 1:30 pm that fateful Sunday.
Jolaoso, who is physically challenged,
having contracted polio in childhood, said her world revolved around her
two favourite subjects: Jamal and her business.
Noting that Jamal always came first, she added that death rudely snatched him away from her when his assailants, attacked him.
She found out about his death in the most crushing way. She bade him goodbye that Sunday, expecting to see him in a few hours.
Jolaoso stated that she later went to
sleep with crushing anxiety and trepidation in her heart and then woke
up the next morning to see her son’s clothes and belongings on her
doorstep.
“I saw his clothes, headphone, house
keys, wallet, jacket, and his cell phone wrapped in his jacket, at the
door the next morning. He was my only joy, my happiness; he was what I
lived for. He helped me with everything. He was a wonderful boy,” the
distraught mother said to SUNDAY PUNCH.
Oladapo’s family have cried out to the Federal Government to help them get justice for their son.
The deceased’s aunt, Mrs. Opeyemi Soetan, told our correspondent that the family is still grieving from the devastating loss.
Soetan said, “It is a great loss. I
cannot bear the grief I feel. Up till now, the whole family is
devastated. I saw him last in March when I travelled to the US. Jamal
was the one who always assisted his mother to run her small business.”
She further stated, “Jamal was born in
the US. His mother, my sister, is a single parent and had struggled to
educate her son. She did everything possible to help him grow into a
fine young man; unfortunately this tragic incident happened. He was an
only child. Jamal was a wonderful boy. He was level-headed and ready to
assist anyone. He was ever smiling, playful and friendly. His dream was
to become a film producer.
“We don’t know what really happened.
Jamal told his cousin that he was going out jogging and that he would
return in another 20 minutes. When he did not return home that day, the
mother reported to the police and he was declared missing. We got to
know that he was missing that Sunday night when the mother called, and
asked us to pray for his safe return. Unfortunately the next morning,
she called us to say they had found his dead body. Detectives from the
Los Angeles Police Department went in search of him and found his
lifeless body in the underground parking garage of the Merridy Village
apartment building.
“Homicide detectives from the LAPD said
they were still investigating the incident, and that they don’t want
anybody to jeopardise their investigation. But according to what we
gathered, there was a surveillance camera around the area which picked
up two people that had walked up to him, and an argument ensued. An
unknown third person in a red top then showed up. Their faces were not
visible because they were not facing the camera.”
Soetan further said two days before
Oladapo’s death; he had told his cousin that someone had thrown an egg
at him. “In the US, from what I know, according to some customs, if
someone throws an egg at one, it is a bad omen,” she said.
“We don’t want his case to be treated
with levity. We want President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian
government to intervene. My sister is handicapped and I don’t know how
she would cope with the loss of her only child. We can only pray to God
for the fortitude to bear this loss,” she added.
Similarly, Oladapo’s uncle, Mr. Moyo
Jolaoso, said he was pained by his nephew’s death. “Jamal had told his
cousin that he recognised someone in the car, when the egg was thrown at
him, but not the person that threw the egg. He was not that sort of
person to react angrily when provoked. He lived with me for about
three/four years when he was in Nigeria. He is a very quiet boy and
could not hurt a fly. His basketball trainer said he was one of his
hopefuls,” he said.
Jolaoso claimed that the LAPD was not doing enough to unravel his late nephew’s killers.
“The area where Oladapo lived is full of
Mexicans; and the LAPD has many Mexicans. I don’t think they are really
doing enough in this regard. But I hope the police can fish out his
killers soon. We plead with the Federal Government to help us,” he said.
A number of Nigerians have been killed
in foreign countries in similar circumstances. In February, 2014,
19-year-old Toba, the only son of renowned sports broadcaster, Aisha
Falode, was killed in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in questionable
circumstances.
The late Toba, popularly known by his
friends as “Tyler,” was a student of SAE Institute, Dubai, in the UAE,
where he was studying Audio Production until his death.
He was said to have fallen off the balcony of the 17th floor of the Manchester Towers, in Dubai, where he resided.
However, Falode said her son was pushed
to his death by a Saudi national and his British girlfriend, after an
altercation had ensued. She had pleaded with the Federal Government to
prevail on the Dubai authorities to re-open the investigation into the
murder.
“No American or British citizen can be
slaughtered anywhere in the world without their government asking
questions. We cannot call ourselves the giant of Africa if our citizens
are killed in other countries, and yet we have not heard of any single
investigation by our government. It is indeed very sad for me. This is
one murder too many,” she told our correspondent.
Like Jolaoso, the Falodes are yet to get justice, as the alleged killers of their sons are still at large.
For Oladapo’s mother, life can never be
the same again with the murder of her son, whom many, like his
basketball coach, said held so much promise.
“He was my only son; I don’t want any
mother to go through this. Please, whoever has any clue to the murder of
my son should let the police know,’’ said the devastated mother.
Also, in July, a Nigerian businessman,
35-year-old Ikejiaku Chinedu, was allegedly beaten to death in Limpopo
Province of South Africa.
The News Agency of Nigeria
quoted the President of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, Mr Ikechukwu
Anyene, as saying that 15 Nigerians had been killed in South Africa
since the beginning of the year.
The killing of Nigerians overseas is something the Federal Government should be worried about, noted a lawyer, Fred Agbaje.
Agbaje wondered why the US police authorities were yet to unravel Oladapo’s killers.
According to him, the US police authorities will ensure they find the killer if it involves a white person.
The lawyer further decried the silence of the Federal Government when Nigerians were killed abroad.
He said, “They know that the Nigerian
government would not do anything at the end of the day; that is why they
take Nigerians for a ride. If there was a reaction from the Nigerian
government, at least to show their unhappiness about the situation, then
those foreign countries won’t dare Nigerians. Only last year, some
Nigerians were killed in South Africa and it keeps happening. That is
why Nigerians cannot die for this country.’’
When contacted on the telephone, the
Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Monsurat Sunmonu, said
she could not respond to the issue because she was out of the country.
Sunmonu asked our correspondent to direct the matter to her office.
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