An 83-year-old retired
soldier, Pa Sule Yusuf, who has been sleeping under the Oshodi
Bridge for 17 years in Lagos, has rejected the offer of relocation to his
country home, Igboora, in Oyo State.
Igboora Progress Union (IPU), the umbrella
association of Igboora indigenes told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in
Ibadan yesterday that Yusuf is adamant he will not relocate from this present
abode.
The news of Yusuf’s 17 years sojourn under the
bridge was widely reported in the media on January 6, which necessitated the
intervention of his community.
Yusuf was said to have been sleeping under Oshodi
Bridge since 1999 after he allegedly lost contact with his family.
He claimed to have retired from the Nigerian Army,
and lost contact with his wife and children, but decided to stay in Lagos.
The man was reported to have been spared severally
during constant raid of the area by policemen due to his identity as a retired
soldier.
Mr. Akinyemi Akinlabi, who spoke on behalf of IPU
said the news was “shocking and pathetic.”
Akinlabi, a former caretaker chairman of Ibarapa
Central Local Government, said the IPU, under the leadership of Justice John
Ige (retd), swung into action after reading the publication.
Akinlabi said the union promptly directed two
members, Mr. Wole Ogunsola and Mr. Muyideen Salami to visit Yusuf, which they
did at exactly 11.00am same day the news was published.
Ogunsola and Salami confirmed that Yusuf told them
he was from Ile-Ekerin, Isale-Oba in Igboora, the same compound, where Ogunsola
hailed from.
Akinlabi said thereafter, the union met with Yusuf’s
family to find solution to the problem.
Contacted, family members said he was not abandoned
but had from childhood cultivated the habit of living under the bridge.
A member of the family, who refused to be named,
said “Yusuf has a room and parlour in his family house in Igboora, which he
locked up but used anytime he came to Igboora.
“He was in Igboora two years ago for the burial of
his elder sister.
“He has declined several attempts to relocate him to
Ejigbo by his younger sister, Amudat, who lived in Ejigbo.
Also contacted, Amudat said she visited him
regularly at Oshodi and also took him to Ago-Iwoye to remove cataract from his
eyes less than two years ago.
Meanwhile, the IPU has assured it would do
everything possible to relocate Yusufu to Igboora.
Source:The Sun
No comments:
Post a Comment