- Wife, children now roam the streets
What could have influenced a father of four, Mr. Akinwale Fasomikan, to stealthily sell off his only house without informing his family and even making an alternative arrangement for their accommodation?
This is the unnerving question the bewildered wife and children of Fasomikan have not been able to answer. When Mrs. Funmilayo Fasomikan, a civil servant with the Lagos State Government, first got the hint from other neighbours that her husband had sold off the property her family was occupying, she first thought it was a blue joke and even one taken too far.
But the reality of the situation dawned on her and her children when, one day, the new owners of the property surfaced and gave her family a quit notice.
Taken aback by this strange and unbelievable development, 50-yearold Funmilayo and her children became confused and at first did not even know what to do and where to move to. Her family’s situation was also compounded by the alleged disappearance of their breadwinner while the shameful drama was unfolding.
After recovering from the initial shock, she decided to explore legal option, heading straight to court. Funmilayo and her children made futile efforts, fought hard not to lose the property, but eventually they lost the legal battle and had to let go.
They were ejected by the new owners. And now, they are homeless! In the past one and a half years, Funmilayo and her four children have been living like refugees. The four children claimed that the property in question, which was inherited by their father from his own dad, was their only hope of having a roof over their heads.
Distraught and emaciated Funmilayo, while explaining the current ordeal being experienced by her family to our correspondent, alleged that the trouble that led to the family’s current homelessness started when her husband suddenly began to flirt with other women.
She said, “As I speak to you, we have nowhere to rest our heads as my husband has sold our only house. “This issue started when I noticed that my husband had started womanising, against his usual habit.
On several occasions, he would not come home to sleep, and all my efforts to change him came to nothing. Whereas, this is the man that I went through hell to secure a job for. But when he got the job, he now started flirting and sleeping around with other women. After so much efforts and when I discovered that he would not change, I decided to sit up to take care of my four children.
On several occasions, he would not come home for days or weeks not to talk of catering for his children. But I was never bothered.” Regarding Akinwale’s secret unilateral sale of the family house, which resulted in the new owners of the property ejecting his wife and children, Funmilayo said that the development was the most shocking to her.
“The worst of it all happened when I was informed by our neigbours that my husband had sold our house and this is the only hope he had, because he inherited the property from his late father.
And when this happened, I didn’t believe it until I made efforts to discover the truth from the agent that helped him to sell the house. He sold the three bedroom apartment, which is located at Iponri Estate for N8million and displaced me and our four children,” she further explained, sobbing.
Fasomikan’s daughter, Bukola, told our correspondent that her father sold the family house allegedly to cater for his harem of concubines. She said, “My dad has not been a re- sponsible man.
He is indeed a liability to the family because from my primary school up to this level , he has not been able to do anything for me. I mean anything, not even to give me money for food or to buy text books. He does not drink, but he flirts a lot with other women.
“He does pick up a fight once a while with our mother, without any tangible reason, especially when he has some money with him. It’s like he has been hypnotised, especially with all he has done by selling off the family house just like that.
He works as a security guard with the Lagos State Government, and my mummy got him the job. He is from Osun State and our mother is from Ondo State. “I don’t know where he stays, for now, in the past one and a half years, but I do see him in court.”
Bukola added that efforts by her mother to stop her father from selling the family house met with a brick wall as her father allegedly ensured that the buyer won a court case instituted to stop their ejection from the property.
“He sold it for N8.5million. We later went to court over the case, but during the proceedings, he collaborated with those people (new owners) and they pushed us out without providing an alternative accommodation for the family,” she said.
Fasomikan’s first child, Oluwagbenga, however, alleged that his father must have been hypnotised to take such an action against his own family. “I have yet to fathom the reason behind my daddy’s action.
The house has been sold now and he refused to provide us another place to put our heads. For months now, we have not even set our eyes on him,” he said. Fasomikan’s elder sister, Mrs. Titi Adeogun, admitted that her brother had sold the only property they inherited from their father.
Adeogun, however, insisted that she knew nothing about what her brother had done. “I have already talked to my brother. It is my father’s house and my brother sold this house and I don’t know anything about it. But the wife is making noise about it. I don’t know what she wants, because her husband has already taken the money.
He sold it (the house) for N8.5million…he collaborated with those people (new owners) and they pushed us out without providing an alternative accommodation
This woman is going too far. She has gone to the court and they told her she has no case. I personally don’t have any case with her, she should go back to court and do whatever she wants to do.
She should go and sort herself and children out with her husband because her husband has already taken their share, even more than he was supposed to take. So, what is my business with her? She should go to court and fight it out with her husband,” Adeogun said.
Efforts by our correspondent to speak with Fasomikan over the allegations leveled against him by his wife and children were not successful. His mobile phone remained switched off as at the time of filing this report.
The Director of an advocate center, Joshabel Touch a Heart, Mrs. Benson Favour, said all efforts would be made to ensure justice for the hapless woman and her children, who had been displaced by their father.
“Though they have been to court and the court has asked them to vacate the house since their father sold it, but this woman and her children cannot be left like that without provision for where to go and because of this, we will ensure that justice is done in the case. The man must be responsible for their accommodation from the money realised from the sale of the house. This is total violation of human rights,” Favour said.
