Elizabeth Ogunbamowo
Three weeks after her shocking murder, bits and pieces of stories about Favour Daley-Oladele continue to emerge from various sources, notably, friends and classmates who recalled the last days of her life. The late-lamented 400 level student of the Department of Theatre Arts and Music of the Lagos State University (LASU) was murdered by Owolabi Adeeko, allegedly her lover and an ex-student of the institution, in a complicated ritual killing that involved the consumption of parts of her body by her killer and his mother.
Some of the new facts suggested there are yet unexplained gaps in the reconstruction of the tragedy. At the procession organized by the student body of the institution on Monday, December 30, 2019, Saturday Sun spoke with some friends and classmates of the deceased and new insights came to light.
Recounting the deceased’s last days, Bunmi Coker, a classmate and a friend disclosed: “Favour was a very jovial person, she is nice to everyone so I never expected someone to do this kind of thing to her. She is the first child of her parents and the first to graduate in her entire family.”
Coker further said, “She was always going out to act; she was already in the [film] industry. During our class play on December 4, she was the stagehand. She arranged the set and she was among the villagers. The last time I saw or spoke with her was on on that day. I had no idea that she was travelling, probably because I was offline at that time. I just got a new phone recently.” She, however, insisted: “I didn’t know she was dating Owolabi, though, she told me about other guys.”
Another friend, Rhoda Abiola, also corroborated this position. “Favour was a sister to me and she was very open, but I was not aware of the relationship as I don’t even know the young man whom I learnt was an ex-student who stayed at Franklass Hostel before his graduation.”
Describing the deceased as someone who was very passionate about her acting career, Abiola affirmed that she was already going to locations and had worked with Nollywood actors such as Sanyeri, Ninalowo, Bidemi Kosoko and Bukola Arugba amongst others.
“Her role model was Toyin Abraham (née Aimakhu); she loved her so much. She really had passion for her budding career so much so that sometimes when you call her and she’d tell you she’s at a location. She missed classes sometimes just to be at location,” she said.
While she confirmed seeing Favour in December during the class’ final year play and in fact chatted with her, Abiola avowed she had no inkling that she was going to embark on a journey.
Similarly, another classmate and a very close friend who simply identified herself as Vera, also affirmed that she wasn’t aware of any relationship between Favour and her killer, Owolabi Adeeko.
She was puzzled that Favour did not inform any of her friends of such a relationship ––“if at all it was true,” she added. “That was what made the whole story awkward because she didn’t hide anything from me. Favour talked about virtually everything,” she said.
Continuing, she said: “I knew Owolabi personally. I can’t believe he did this to a human being. He used to be a very nice and calm person. A few friends of mine had followed him out for a night party and came back unhurt, though we all knew that he was a “drug lord”.”
Vera gave further damning testimonies. According to her, Owolabi’s involvement in drug trafficking was what led to the rustication of Armstrong, a former student who was a friend to both parties. Owolabi was arrested at some point but was released from police custody in less than a week, she added.
“She was a part of my life, her things are in my hostel and I can’t even discard them because I can’t still believe she’s gone. She had promised me that she’d be fully involved in activities at my wedding. I saw her on December 5, and she didn’t inform me about any plans to embark on a journey. She was the only person I could always talk to on relationship matters. She cheers me up whenever I’m bored,” Vera wailed.
Still further facts emerged from a friend who pleaded anonymity. She claimed that Favour was pregnant at the time of her murder, but her friends never knew the truth about who was responsible.
“When she was declared missing, her group of friends had visited the young man supposedly responsible for the pregnancy, to question him on the whereabouts of our friend, the lady whom he impregnated, but we received a shocking revelation as he told us he wasn’t responsible for Favour’s pregnancy,” she claimed.
She also debunked the idea of Favour dating Owolabi. Her reason: theirs was a small circle of friends, and there was no secret among them. The late Favour Daley-Oladele was not in any way a secretive person, she insisted. “The very idea that Favour had any relationship with Owolabi is a joke.”
Meanwhile, President of the department’s association, Abdul Joseph avowed the students will try as much as possible to get justice for the deceased through legal means. “We would try our best to cover the void for her immediate family,” Joseph said.