Contrary to the earlier murder allegation made by the family of a 33 years old electrician, Idris Lasisi, who was found dead in the attic of a pharmacy on Abraham Adesanya Low Cost Housing Estate, Ajah, Lagos State, a post mortem carried out on the body has stated that the deceased died of asphyxia and electrocution.
The report of the test dated 18 December, 2017 and signed by Dr O.O. Kila of the Department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, which was signed and stamped by the Ogombo Divisional Police Officer, was sent to our correspondent by the elder brother of the deceased, Abdul-Rahaman Lasisi.
The elder brother explained that the family has accepted the autopsy report in good faith, stressing that they have accepted the death as an act of God. “The relationship between the deceased and the owner of the pharmacy, Adebayo Afon had spanned eight years and throughout the relationship, we have never had any reason to suspect him of any ulterior motive, so we have accepted what happened as an act of God and we have resolved not to press further charges against him.”
According to him, the father of one will be buried as soon as possible, adding that the owner of the pharmacy has promised to render financial assistance to the deceased’ pregnant wife and aged mother.
Phone calls put across to the Divisional Police Officer, Ogombo Division were returned unanswered, but it was gathered as confirmed by the deceased’s elder brother, Abdul Ramon Lasisi that the police had already cleared the owner of the pharmacy, Adebayo Afon, of any wrongdoing.
Also, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Chike Oti, said the case had been resolved. “The doctor said the man died of electrocution, the family is aware of the autopsy report and they are now sure that there was no foul play,” he added.
Recalling what led to the incident, the owner of the pharmacy, Adebayo Afon said he invited the deceased whom he had known for more than eight years to fix an electrical fault at the store where the incident happened on Friday, 8, but he did not come until Saturday, 9. “On Saturday, he came and went to the attic, but workers at the store did not see him come down. They looked around for him and called me when they did not see him. So I told them to check him in the attic. The two workers being a woman and a man with disability on one hand could not climb up. They saw his car in front of the pharmacy with a deflated tyre, so, they thought he was running around to fix the tyre.
“When they were about to close, they called me again, saying they had not seen the man and that the electrical fault had not been fixed. I told them to look for another electrician to go up and check if the man was there. The electrician went up, used a torch to look around, but said he did not see anybody. The store was closed afterwards.”
He added that the shop opened the next day being Sunday for operations and closed after few hours without the workers noticing any strange occurrence. “But by Monday when they wanted to open the shop, they noticed some liquid dropping from the ceiling and strange odour. They called me and I reported at the Ogombo Police Station myself. That was exactly what happened”.
Also speaking, one Mr. Dayo, a resident in the estate said he had known the pharmacy and the owner for years and has no reason to doubt his integrity, adding that what happened was just an accident. “The pharmacy has been with us for years and we have always enjoyed patronising them, so the incident was an act of God, though quite unfortunate and now that the autopsy has debunked the murder allegation made against the owner, we are happy he is vindicated.”
