ω We want to know legitimate owner
– Hospital
ω You’ve no reason to keep it –Son
From Gyang Bere, Jos
To bury or not to bury? That’s the question that everybody who has a stake in the case is asking as the body of Ms Lois Yusuf Davou, a Chief Nursing Officer at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) who died eleven months ago is yet to be committed to mother earth.
This followed the controversy that ensued as to who has the right to conduct that rite for the departed woman before her spirit could be allowed to rest in peace: her 20-year-old son, Benjamin Yusuf, a 300-level student of the Department of Quantity Survey, University of Jos and his siblings, or the family of her late husband, Yusuf Davou with whom she gave birth to Benjamin and his siblings but who refused to recognize her as his rightful wife or to John Dominic the man in whose heart and hand she found love again after the death of Yusuf, and with whom she lived before her death?
An attempt to answer that question, to straighten matters out so that the woman could be given a decent burial has seen the parties involved and authorities of Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) clashing at various points, to the extent of attracting litigations on two levels, namely on who has the right to bury the woman and, secondly, the right to claim her entitlements.
But even with the parties involved agreeing to settle out-of-court there seems to be no end in sight to the conundrum as JUTH management is yet to release the body of the woman for burial. As you read this, the question is no longer “who” but “when”? The deadlock has been such that not even pleas and interventions from individuals, committees as well as pronouncements from the court of law have been able to free the woman’s body from the icy grip of the morgue so as to get it laid in its final resting place.
Genesis of the crisis
The controversy started much earlier while she was alive but nobody saw this coming. Saturday Sun gathered that the deceased once had a relationship with one Yusuf Davou, a former Pastor from Du District of Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State and this resulted in pregnancy.
Lois and Yusuf who was already married with children agreed to keep the pregnancy as well as to continue with their love affair, despite objections. The church was said to have suspended Yusuf over the matter. All the same, that did not deter him from taking Lois as his second wife although Lois’ father was said to have refused to accept the dowry. His argument was that Yusuf being a Pastor who had his own family before he got entangled with his daughter, Lois, needed repentance to make his way right with God and to return to the vineyard of God. In fact, Lois’ parents insisted on her cutting off the relationship with Yusuf the moment she gave birth, as they were not willing to see their daughter become a second wife. Their decision was like answered prayer for Yusuf’s first wife and her children who saw his extra-marital involvement with Lois as something of a big shame and disgrace to them and the church they belonged to.
But Yusuf and Lois refused to let go of their love for each other. Instead, the two lovebirds rented an apartment where they stayed together and gave birth to Benjamin. The relationship did not stop but grew from strength to strength, as they lived as husband and wife and gave birth to three kids: Benjamin, 20, Ephraim, 19 and 13-year-old Ruth who is today a JSS 3 student. The children lived with their mother without knowing they are from Du community in Jos South. But unfortunately, somewhere along the line, Yusuf passed on in 2007, leaving the children behind with their mother.
Sources said that the opposition to their relationship was such that Yusuf’s family could not allow the late Lois and her children attend his burial, with a warning that they should not count themselves as part of the family. As such, his estate such as land and other possessions were reportedly shared to only his children from his first wife, excluding Benjamin, Ephraim and Ruth.
But after staying as a widow for some years, Lois got married to one John Dominic. The marital rites were duly followed and dowry paid to her parents. It was while she was living with the man that she became sick and died on Thursday, June 21, 2018.
The woman’s death and ensuing controversies
When she died, Dominic and Benjamin were said to have taken her body to JUTH mortuary and aided by her friend, a Mrs Mancha, registered it with the hope of conducting a befitting burial for her soon after. In fact, in preparation for that, Dominic was said to have gone ahead to print obituary posters, dig a grave and buy a casket with the intention of committing her body to mother earth on the following Thursday after her death. But on getting to JUTH mortuary on the proposed day of burial, he was denied possession of her body on the excuse that the name that body bore was in no way related to him.
In stepped Benjamin who said he was prepared to take the responsibility. JUTH, through its Director of Administration, Mr. Bitrus Ali asked him to go and fix another date for her burial. After discussing with Dominic, they agreed to bury her remains in Kwol village, Bassa Local Government Area so that her grave can be preserved instead of in public cemetery, as previously arranged by her husband. Based on this mutual agreement, Benjamin fixed the date of his mother’s burial for the following Thursday, three weeks after her death.
But he ran into another stonewall when he approached the Director of Administration to intimate him of the burial arrangement and he was asked to put his request in writing to make it official. This, he did. But thereafter he kept on going to the hospital until he got frustrated. A day before the new proposed day of burial, precisely on July 10, 2018, he got a reply to his letter. In it, he was advised to get a letter of permission from the family of late Yusuf Davou to whom their mother was once married.
He was also directed to clear the debt of his late mother at the cooperative society of JUTH. It was said that before her death the hospital owed her three months salaries but only N20, 000 and N18, 000 respectively were allegedly sent to the family from her salary amounting to about N300, 000.
Based on this development the burial was again postponed. Feeling frustrated, Benjamin got his lawyer, L. E. Anyia to write a letter to JUTH, December 17, 2018, to plead with the management to release his mother’s body for burial. The hospital alleging that there are three families fighting over its ownership refused and claimed that they need to know who has the legitimate right to bury it.
Confused, Benjamin decided to visit the family of his late father in the company of his aunt, to iron out knotty issues. There, he was asked to contact Stephen Davou, the elder brother of his late father. He did and was given the permission to bury his mother. Arguing that he didn’t know anything about the relationship between his brother, Yusuf and Lois because he was away from home and recently retired from civil service before he came home and was briefed about the affairs, Stephen initially promised to follow Benjamin to the hospital for clearance the following day to enable him bury his mother. But few hours later he reneged, noting that he was going to bury his late brother’s wife according to Berom tradition.
To resolve issues, Benjamin, in company of his aunt met with not only Stephen Davou but also the District Head of Du, the Village Head of Guratop and some elders from the village who, after prolonged deliberation on the issue agreed to release the corpse to Benjamin.
Following the continuing controversy, the hospital management set up a committee over the matter. Benjamin, Stephen Davou and Dominic John were invited during their sitting and they all agreed that Lois’ body should be released to Benjamin for burial. It was also resolved that the woman’s entitlements be given to her children.
Not satisfied with the committee’s recommendations, JUTH authorities dragged Stephen Davou Jang, John Dominic, Benjamin Davou, to Plateau State High Court, Jos, through its counsel, K.M.G Pwul, praying the court to decide who among the three is entitled to be given her remains for burial. They also wanted the court to determine who among the defendants is entitled to the benefits accruing and due to the late Lois Davou Yusuf.
But in a counter-motion, the deceased woman’s children arguing that the state high court lacks the jurisdiction to adjudicate over the matter as the JUTH is a federal institution dragged the authorities and other parties involved to Federal High Court, Jos. Along the line, the parties, having exhausted the legal options, agreed to settle out-of- court with the children demanding N15 million as damages for time wasted and the trauma they suffered. But so far the hospital has refused not only to pay the amount but to also release Lois’ body for burial.
Family of first husband speaks
Stephen Davou, elder brother to late Yusuf Davou who spoke to Saturday Sun, admits that he agreed that not only should the woman’s body be released to her children to bury anywhere they like but that also her entitlements should be given to them.
“It’s true that the children belonged to my late brother, so we wanted to bury their mother according to our tradition but the children refused, insisting that they want to go and bury their mother in Kwol, Maingo,” he said. “It was when they took me to court that I disowned them. I don’t want to have anything to do with them. I was working to bring them back home but they are not thinking in that direction. The first son said they were born in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, so I don’t have anything to do with them. The corpse should be given to them with their mother’s entitlements.”
Second husband weighs in on the matter
Dominic also pleaded with JUTH to release the body to the children for burial so that her spirit can rest in peace. “I don’t know what is still delaying the burial up till now,” he said. “I had wanted to do the burial. I had dug a grave, bought coffin and prepared everything but JUTH refused to release the corpse to me arguing that she does not bear my name. JUTH took the matter to State High Court for determination of who is the right person to release the corpse to but the children went to Federal High Court to challenge the jurisdiction of the court to attend to the matter. They later withdrew the case and opted for out-of-court settlement. I am not interested in the entitlement of their mother. I was only interested in the burial of my wife but since the children said they want to bury their mother, I have given them the permission to do that, the corpse should be released to them.”
Hospital administrator refuses to talk
But when the Chief Medical Director of Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) Prof. Edmonds Banwa, was contacted, he declined comment, noting that the matter is in court and that he wouldn’t want to say anything either for or against.
Son’s frustration and plea with JUTH
But Benjamin Davou who claimed to have lost weight over the matter coupled with the toll it has taken on his academics is pleading with relevant authorities to intervene and get JUTH to release his mother’s body for burial.
“I don’t know why JUTH has not released the corpse. I don’t know when the Director of Administration will give me the body for burial,” he said. “The case has gone to court and we opted for out-of-court settlement but up till now, there is no cheering news from them. I am sad that my mother is 11 months now in the mortuary; there is no reason whatsoever for her body to be kept for that long. I am the first son. They should give me the body of my mother to bury.”
On the tolls it has taken on him, he said: “The matter has affected me academically. I can’t concentrate again. Several thoughts are running through my mind at the same time. I have been going for meeting with the committee that JUTH set up, coupled with the court cases. I had to stop going to school at a point to attend to the cases and that is not a healthy experience for a young man like me.
“I am pained that I lost my mother at this age and my pain is compounded by the controversy that was introduced in the plans for her burial. As we speak now, I don’t know what the body looks like in the mortuary. I am begging that the body of my mother should be given to me for burial.”