The story of late Mr. Semiu Opeyemi from Osun State, is not only agonising but mysterious. Opeyemi had worked very hard to become a Business Administration graduate from The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Oyo State.
Determined to make it in life and to put in practice the knowledge he acquired as a Business Administration graduate, he took up a job as a manager with Waterview Hotel, Ojuoro Phase 1, Ajaguro Ikorodu in Lagos State.
It was learnt that the 29-year-old Opeyemi, a bachelor, worked assiduously as the hotel’s manager to the extent that many people assumed that he was the proprietor.
PUNCH METRO learnt that he displayed sound service delivery, accountability and business acumen, and those attributes endeared him to both the customers and the hotel owner, Mr. Eweolaru Adejare.
But last Wednesday, Opeyemi drowned in a river near the hotel in a mysterious circumstances. The deceased was said to have formed the habit of paddling a canoe across the other side of a nearby river to defecate. On the fateful day, he was said to have cleared some grasses around the hotel to ensure its cleanliness and later boarded a canoe to defecate as usual. However, after a while, the canoe was seen floating without Opeyemi, raising curiosity and fear among other canoe operators. The canoe operators were said to have raised the alarm and people began to search for Opeyemi. After many unsuccessful efforts to locate his body, some Ijaw divers from nearby areas were invited to be part of the search party. It was learnt that many hours after the combined team of divers could still not found Opeyemi, the Ijaw divers later asked for some bottles of local gin and some alligator pepper, with which they appeased the river. After chanting some incantations, Opeyemi‘s corpse was said to have been found at a spot where he knelt down in the river. It was learnt that the divers were stunned by the position they met Opeyemi and this attracted more incantations and sacrifices before his corpse was retrieved from the river under police guidance.
The hotel owner, Adejare said, ”People, who were here, when he was working testified that he paddled one of the canoes to defecate. After some time, some other canoe operators came and asked people in the area where Opeyemi was. Those people said they did not see anybody there. They called his mobile phone. It rang repeatedly here; obviously he left it at the hotel. “After some hours, a search party was conducted and they later discovered that he was drowned in the river. They made statement to the nearest police station and the police came for investigation. That was what happened.”
Opeyemi‘s friend, Mr. David Odusanya, said his late friend had formed the habit of paddling a canoe to the other side of the river to defecate. Odusanya said, “Opeyemi had formed the habit of going there to defecate. Many people that saw him taught he could swim, but surprisingly, they found an empty canoe. We have many toilets here. The manager (Opeyemi) had his own toilet but he was also free to use any of the toilets. He was my close friend. “It is only God that knows when one will die. He has other relatives. They came here and supervised the burial. He died on Wednesday and was buried on Thursday. When somebody dies in a river, he would be buried by the river side. This is the tradition of the Yoruba.”
The Baale of Ajaguro Ikorodu, Chief Sikiru Okikia-Ade, advised people to avoid risks and be cautious. Okikia-Ade said, “Even though someone casts a spell on you, you have to be careful. Going to the river to defecate is not good. I urge the youth not to take such risk. This should serve as a deterrent to others. “I do not know anything about him kneeling on the river bed, but I know that anybody that dies in the river would be buried beside the river and ritual must be performed to avoid a recurrence. If ritual is not done and the dead person is buried beside the river, such a thing will recur. That is Yoruba’s belief and it has been happening. The ritual is to prevent a recurrence “They came to me as the Baale that they wanted to perform the ritual. As the custodian of our tradition, I told them that if they did not do it, I would not allow them to bury him. I also told them to get enabling documents for his burial” The Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, Mr. Samuel Jinadu, said the command was aware of the incident, adding that investigations into Opeyemi’s death had begun.

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