The Intimate World of Temidayo Adeleke, Her Last Hours, Her Unfulfilled Dreams.
…Why Former Fiancee, Babajide Obanikoro Is Inconsolable
On Tuesday, December 19, 2016, Ms Temidayo Adeleke was brutally murdered by her family’s domestic servant. The houseboy, William Smith, a Cameroonian, had stabbed Dayo in the neck and heart, shortly after she returned from the office. He was apprehended at the gate of the Park View Estate gate, while attempting to run away.

The death of Dayo, (32 last October), has no doubt, thrown the entire Lagos society into a mourning mood. It has also blighted the mood of the Christmas season for her loved ones. Her sudden death really came as a shock to members of her family and her friends. They are yet to come to terms with the reality that the young lady, who meant the world to them, is no more.

Few hours after the tragic news of her death broke on Wednesday morning, family members, friends and sympathisers converged at the Adelekes’ residence on Prince Tayo Adesanya Close, in Park View, Ikoyi. Within a few minutes, the house became a Mecca of mourners. A deep feeling of sorrow and loss pervaded the gathering. There was so much crying and wailing. Gloom, like an overlord, held sway.

Seven months ago, when Dayo offered to help Smith by employing him, little did she know that she was inviting the harbinger of her death into her life. The ELITES gathered that Smith was a refugee from Cameroon and he was being rehabilitated in a church in Lagos. The pastor of the church had reportedly approached Dayo and requested that she employ him. Without hesitating, Dayo employed Smith as a domestic servant in her family home.

Seven months later, and exactly three months after her engagement to Tolu Oshinowo, her fiancée, Dayo Adeleke was brutally murdered by the young man she helped out of genuine kindness and compassion. Smith wasted dream that was just coming through.

Had her life not be tragically terminated on that fateful Tuesday, Dayo would have been married by February 14, 2017. Her Introduction ceremony, (Writing-in), had been slated to hold next January.

Dayo was the daughter of the late Brigadier General Adekola Alfred Adeleke. He was the Commandant, Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre before his retirement. A Very close friend and associate of General Abdulsalam Abubakar, the former Head of State, Adeleke died in August 2014, after a prolong battle with a terminal illness. He was 68 years old. Although, he was originally from Iragbiji, Osun State, Adeleke’s family had relocated to the Northern part of Nigeria. Dayo’s mother, Temisan Eugenia Etisola, a successful businesswoman, runs s chain of store in Sura Shopping Complex.

The ELITES gathered that Dayo lived in the Guest Chalet, located within the family’s massive mansion, while her mother stays in the main building. Other domestic servants like the cook, security guards and a driver also live with the Adelekes. Few hours before Dayo came home that tragic night, her houseboy had welcome her mother and helped to carry her stuffs to the main building. Later, when Dayo arrived home, Smith had helped to take her stuffs inside her apartment. Less than five minutes after she arrived home, Dayo was stabbed and found in a pool of her own blood. The ELITES gathered that it was while she was heading to her room that Smith attacked and stabbed her in the neck and the heart. What set off the dispute that claimed her life remains unclear, but sources disclosed that Dayo had screamed for help while being attacked by Smith.

Her scream for help was what attracted the driver, who was still trying to park the car. He reportedly rushed to her mother’s apartment to alert her of what was happening. Before Dayo’s mother and the driver arrived at her apartment, Smith had fled the house. He had scaled the fence of the house in a ladder, which he was allegedly to have placed on the wall, before he carried out the attack. Meanwhile, the security men, guarding the Adeleke’s home, were said to have alerted the estate’s security men of what had happened. Invariably, when Smith, with blood in his hands, arrived at the gate and was accosted, he explained that he had a fight with his boss and had been instructed to call his guardian. The security men arrested him and walked him back to the house.

Dayo grew up in a home where she was surrounded by the unfaltering love of her closely-knit family. Her father was an extremely loving man, who raised all his four children to value faith and family above all else. These were values that Dayo came to dearly espouse, throughout her life.

 

General Adeleke and his wife, Temisan met in 1971, in Zaria. They got married on the 14th December 1974 at Holy Cross Cathedral in Benin, the then Bendel State of Nigeria. Their marriage was blessed with four beautiful daughters, Aderonke, Adefunke, Temitayo and Temidayo and seven grandchildren.

A consummate father, General Adeleke’s exceptionally sacrificial love for his family was obvious from the minute detail to the hugely significant details of life. He drew all of his family close, never making a distinction between nuclear and extended family. He made several sacrifices to ensure his children received the best education available, sending them all to England for most their primary and all of their University education. To his daughters, he was more than just a father; he was their first true love, their mentor and most of all he was their friend. He was a dependable father that consistently showered his daughters with love.

Dayo’s elder sister, Funke is married to Ademola Adeojo, the younger brother of renowned fashion designer, Deola Sagoe and son of Chief Michael Ade-Ojo, the chairman of Elizade Group of Companies.

Prior to meeting her fiancée, Dayo was romantically linked with Babajide Obanikoro, the son of former Minister of Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro.

Dayo was widely known to be one young woman who radiated joy and spread the sunshine that was her life. She also made an impressive mark as a very hardworking entrepreneur. She was very gregarious and infected many people with her charming mien and infectious smile.
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