L-R:
Lawyer to late Rashidi Yekini, Jibril Olanrewaju; daughters of the
deceased, Yemisi and Omoyemi, during a press conference in Lagos on May
26, 2016.
While speaking at a press conference today in Lagos, Yemisi and
Omoyemi Yekini, the daughters of late Super Eagles legend, Rashidi
Yekini, have renewed their demand for an inquest into the death of their
iconic father who died on May 4th 2012 at the age of 49.
The family said the circumstances of his death were unclear, for
his two daughters, it has been difficult moving on without the exact
knowledge of the cause of their father’s death.
“There is no concrete thing to say this is how he died, it is
difficult; you cannot move on until you truly know that this is how he
died. Your father has just passed away, you ask your mother how he died
and she says I don’t know how he died; I think that is the worst thing
that can happen to someone.
“You don’t know whether he was killed, or he was drugged, or he
was ill; there are no answers, so I will like there to be an
inquisition,” the first daughter, Yemisi, said.
Yemisi, who is schooling at Leicester City in the UK, expressed
disappointment that the relevant authorities never considered
investigating Yekini’s death.
“I requested it from the moment he died but as a 17-year-old
girl if I say mum, I want the police to investigate this, nobody is
going to listen to me. But come to think of it, do I really have to ask
before this is done. If everyone is saying Rashidi Yekini was a great
footballer, he is a superstar, if he is this … he is that, why do we
need to ask, why is there not one, why can Nigeria not just take this up
and investigate,” Yemisi queried.
The legendary footballer's daughters vowed to do all within their
ability to immortalise their late father, appealing to everyone to join
hands with them to keep the memories of the goals king alive, adding
that the family is considering to convert Yekini’s home into a museum
and also organise a befitting testimonial match for him in the years
ahead.
Yemisi and Omoyemi said they hoped to use Yekini’s Ibadan house to
honour their father, even though most of the laurels Yekini won as a
player were allegedly carted away from the house by family members just
before he died.
“I and Omoyemi come from a great home; we both have great
mothers and a great father, so we are not money-hungry children. We are
not here to sell the house or get the money. What we both want is the
house in Ibadan, which we (with Omoyemi) shared with our father. That is
the one we want,” Yemisi hinted.
“We are not bothered about the money; we’ve been able to look
after ourselves. I had the idea of turning his house in Ibadan to a
museum. Mr. Olanrewaju Jibril (Yekini’s lawyer) told me that when he
went to the house, everything was gone: all his trophies, his pictures,
awards all gone. And that’s very sad because that’s something we would
have used to remember our father,” she added.
No comments:
Post a Comment