Since the blooding shedding robbery that happened in Lekki last Thursday that claimed the lives of policemen and a 15-year-old fish seller, Sarah Ibikunle, her corpse is yet to be released by the state government hospital in Yaba.
The deceased’s family said the management of the Yaba mortuary had requested N100,000 as fees for embalming her remains.
It could be recalled that Ibikunle was hit by stray bullets fired by the bandits, who also killed three policemen during a robbery attack on a branch of First City Monument Bank Limited on Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1.
Painfully, the basic three pupil of Itedo Primary School had planned to study law before her ambition was dashed by the robbers, who stormed the bank through waterways in the area, shooting indiscriminately for about 30 minutes.
Still engrossed in pains of the great loss, Ibikunle’s aunt, Omolafe, said she hoped the state government would intervene and save the family from unnecessary hassles in the family’s bid to bury its member.
She said, “We have been told to come back on Monday (today). I wish they will release her remains and let us bury her. We have no way of raising the N100,000 they are requesting, unless they want to add to our sorrow. The money cannot bring our loved Sarah back to us. The government should come to our aid.”
Meanwhile, the Lagos State police spokesperson, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, said the police would pay all the entitlements of the cops that died in the incident to their families.
He, however, did not disclose when and what each family would get.
He said, “The families of the late policemen would be paid according to their (cops) ranks. It is a statutory matter and we are not obliged to disclose when and what their family members would get.”
