Five children of the late Managing Director of First Foundation Medical Centre Limited Lagos, Dr Tosin Ajayi, have written a letter to the Chief Judge of the state to demand an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.
Human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), confirmed this to our correspondent on Tuesday.
“It is true. We have written a letter to demand a coroner’s inquest. The children want to know the circumstances surrounding the death of their father. That is all I can say for now,” Falana said.
The late Dr Ajayi was a wealthy physician and businessman, and had interests in many companies. He first came into prominence in October 1986 when he tried to save the late publisher of the Newswatch magazine, Dele Giwa, after a parcel bomb exploded on him.
We learnt that the children were suspicious of the circumstances surrounding the death of their father.
A family friend of the Ajayis told our correspondent that the deceased and his wife, Oluyemisi, a retired Chief Nursing Officer with the Lagos State Government, were legally married for over 45 years even though they were estranged as of the time of his death.
However, over a decade ago, the late Ajayi began a relationship with a former beauty queen, Helen Prest, who adopted his surname.
The children claimed that Helen was never legally married to their father, because the marriage between him and their mother was never dissolved.
A family source said, “The five children are all accomplished. Two of them are medical doctors, while the others are also successful and well educated in their own right. They kept in touch with their father regularly, but he became unreachable apparently when he got sick and was possibly in hospital by then.
“Weeks before his death, he was no longer answering phone calls and they got worried. Helen took him to hospital without the knowledge of any of the children. She was the first to know about his demise and never informed any of them.
“According to the children, they reliably learnt that their dad had been in hospital for about four weeks prior to his demise. They only got to know after he had passed away but not from Helen.
“We were told that after his death, Helen went to his First Foundation office in Ikeja and made away with some items.”
It was learnt that the children were also barred from viewing his corpse, which was deposited in the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital’s private mortuary.
The family friend said, “The children tried to see their father’s corpse and made arrangements with Helen. For a whole week, it was one story after the other; so, they decided to go to the mortuary themselves. They were, however, barred from seeing the corpse.
“So, they proceeded to the Ikeja Police Division and made a complaint against Helen and the mortuary. It was only after the police intervened that they were allowed to see the corpse.”
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Bala Elkana, confirmed the incident to PUNCH Metro on the telephone.
“The DPO said he received a complaint that some family members could not see a corpse at the mortuary. The police intervened and the relatives were able to see the corpse. No investigation is being conducted,” Elkana stated.
When contacted on the telephone, Helen said she was still mourning her husband and would not be able to speak.
When confronted with the allegations made against her, she said a spokesman would contact our correspondent to respond on her behalf.
“I am mourning my husband. I cannot speak on this matter. Someone will call you,” she said.
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