Finally, Nigerian lady who died in Ivory Coast prison buried in Ibadan

There was weeping and wailing as the remains of Itunu Babalola was laid six feet down the earth in Sango, Ibadan.

Itunu died in prison in Côte D’Ivoire after she was wrongly jailed and lacks quick response from the Nigerian authorities to come to her aid.

The remains of Babalola were interred on Saturday at the Sango Cemetery at 11:25am. She was buried in the presence of officials of the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission sent by the Chairperson, Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

The deceased’s body had arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos on Friday at 11pm via Air Côte D’Ivoire and was conveyed to Oyo State.

Babalola reportedly died on November 14, 2021 and Nigerians had taken to social media to express deep anger over her death.

According to reports, 21-year-old Babalola from Oyo State was a trader based in Bondoukou, Cote d’Ivoire. Her apartment had been burgled by an Ivorian in September 2019 and she had reported the incident to the police but the DPO informed her that the suspect was his nephew.

He reportedly offered her a settlement worth roughly N100,000 to drop the case, an amount lesser than the N300,000 worth of stolen effects.

Babalola was subsequently arrested when she refused the settlement, charged to court for human trafficking and sentenced to 10 years in prison.