Widow raises alarm over son’s safety

A widow in her late 50s has raised the alarm, expressing concern over the safety of her son and his wife, who she said, Islamic fundamentalists have been trailing, over religious issues.

The widow, Mrs Abosede Ayoka, who trades in fairly used clothes otherwise known as “Tokunbo” at  the famous Gbagi market in Ibadan, Oyo State raised the alarm in Abeokuta,Ogun State.

 Mrs Ayoka a resident of Molete, Ibadan, Oyo State, spoke when she visited the office of a Human Rights Group in Abeokuta, Ogun State, as she continued in her efforts to get justice for her Son and his wife, Oyikansola who she said was pregnant when her husband had issues with the Jihadists.

The couple, it was learnt fled to an unknown location, after  leaving their house in Niger State, as the search for them  by Islamic fundamentalists gathered momentum.

 ”The travail of my son, Godwin Ayoka, a Pastor of a branch of the Living Faith Church, World Wide in Niger State, began in 2019  when he allegedly went to preach at some moslem dominated villages, winning  souls for Jesus Christ among the Muslim faithful.”

She explained that there were threats to the lives of her son and his entire family by gunmen believed to be Islamist fighters, who have warned him to desist from preaching Christianity in their land, an act which they said Islam abhors.

“They sent threat messages and calls to my son twice. The first one, in 2019 and the second one in 2022, to warn him of unpalatable consequences, should he fail to adhere to their warnings,” the woman said as tears rolled down her eyes.

Mrs Ayoka who pleaded for justice from the Human Rights Group, headed by one Kayode Ewuoso, explained that the residence of her son in Tundun Wada Majinga in Niger State was set ablaze by the fundamentalists in October 2022, when her son and his wife were in Kaduna for a conference .

“Many of their property were razed by the fire while their neighbours were only able to save some of their belongings from the ravaging fire,” Mrs Ayoka added.

She noted that when her son discovered that the suspected assassins were resolute in their plans to kill him and his wife, they had to retire to his father’s place in Ondo state from Kaduna for fear of the unknown .

“My son, still unstable emotionally left his father in Ondo in the company of his wife, to Abeokuta where they planned to celebrate the Christmas with his  father-in-law, only to be told, through calls that his father, he left hale and hearty, had been gruesomely killed by unknown gunmen,” the woman said.

She added that before her husband was killed, he had also received threat messages from  the suspected Islamists, who told him they would vent their anger on him for his Son’s offence.

“As he was with  his father in-law, neighbours and church members in Niger State,kept on telephoning him that those after his lives, were still paying nocturnal visits to his quarters and his church, part of which had been vandalised by the  extremists,” Mrs Ayoka added.

“As I speak with you, my son still receives threat calls and messages that are heartbreaking from these people, while the security operatives he lodged the complaint to, about the threat to his life are yet to respond positively,” the widow said, noting,  ”My son and his family are currently having sleepless nights over the unending threat calls and messages by these people.”