The corpse of a pensioner, Joseph Iyoha, has been recovered by the roadside in the Yaba area of Lagos State, after he went missing on Saturday. His widow, Mrs. Catherine Iyoha, told PUNCH Metro that the 78-year-old Edo State indigene walked out of their home on Dawodu Lane in the Ebute Meta West area of Lagos State, around noon, saying he wanted to cut his hair. She added that he did not return home. Catherine told our correspondent that it was after she returned from church that she discovered that her husband had gone missing. She said, “He usually went to cut his hair on Kano Street, after which he would return home. He did that weekly. On that Saturday, March 7, around 12 noon, he said he was going out to cut his hair as usual.
“He left me at home while I was preparing for church. It was after I returned around evening that I discovered he had not returned and I began searching for him. "She said she reported the situation at the Denton Police Station, but the policemen neither took her serious nor allowed her to write her statement. Our correspondent was told that on Tuesday, however, a policeman, who knew the victim’s family, led Catherine back to the station, after which they took her statement and promised to act on it. “They told me to bring his passport the following day, which was a Wednesday. They said they would radio other stations to join in the search,” she added. However, by Wednesday, a relative, Mrs. Feyisara Lawal, who had heard of the incident was said to have overheard someone in the Sabo Market talking about sighting an unknown corpse in the Yaba area. Lawal said, “I had travelled when my sister called me on Sunday that her husband was missing and that I should also help her to look around. When I got to the market, another trader that shares shop with me noticed my sad mood and asked what had happened and I narrated everything to her. “On Wednesday, I overheard the woman’s son, who had just returned from his place of work, saying he saw a corpse on Monday at Yaba and the man had a new haircut.
“He said there was a crowd around the corpse. Immediately, he said that, it occurred to me it could be my sister’s husband and I alerted her. "PUNCH Metro was told that the family traced the corpse to the Lagos Mainland Mortuary where it was taken to by environmental officials.The widow told PUNCH Metro that her husband, before his demise, was being owed money by the state and federal governments.Our correspondent learnt that Joseph retired as a store keeper from the Ministry of Health.He was said to have retired voluntarily in 1977 while serving under the Lagos State Government. Out of the 21 years of service, Catherine said her husband gave 19 years to the Federal Government and two years to the state government. Catherine said, “The Lagos State Government was giving him N200 monthly as pension and after collecting it for some time, he stopped going there, wondering how he would spend N300 on transport to collect a pension of N200.“The Federal Government that was paying him about N5,000 suddenly stopped in 2010.
“We have written several letters without any reply. It created hardship for us.”
The deceased’s Lagos file number was given as 27944.
It was gathered that the family were still making arrangement for his burial.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, Kenneth Nwosu, said he would get back to our correspondent on the allegation that policemen from the Denton Police Division did not attend to the widow on time.
But he had yet to do so as of press time.
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