Mystery or fraud? Varsity lecturer identifies son of Nigerian woman who died twice

• L-R: Ekundayo, the deceased and another person Photo: Sun News Publishing

Fresh facts have emerged on the story of a Nigerian woman who died years ago in Nigeria, resurfaced in Benin Republic, where she died again this year as a university lecturer has identified one Mr. Ekundayo Essien Audifferen, who appeared in a group photograph published alongside the story as one of the late woman’s son.

Daily Sun had on Monday, October 3, this year, published the story with the headline: Unbelievable: Nigerian woman dies twice. Buried in Nigeria, resurfaces in Benin Republic, dies again. The story was run from Page 29 to 31. For the second time, the woman died on May 2, 2011 and her remains were immediately deposited at Morgue Le Pardon in Djeregbe, which is about 10 minutes drive from Porto Novo, capital of Benin Republic.

Her corpse has been in the mortuary since then and nobody has come forward to claim it. As at August 31, Daily Sun learnt, the cost of keeping her lifeless body in the mortuary had risen above N120, 000. One of her sons who was alleged to have been contacted soon after the “second death” was said to have told the callers that his mother was long dead and buried and that the woman who died in Porto Novo could not possibly be his mother.

The alleged son has since gone incommunicado.
Shortly after the story was published early this week, a university lecturer identified one Mr. Ekundayo Essien Audifferen as one of the sons of the late woman. Ekundayo, according to the lecturer, was one of his classmates at the University of Lagos (UNILAG). Ekundayo’s discipline is being held by us to protect the identity of the lecturer.

In one of the pictures that illustrated the story on Page 30 as published by Daily Sun this week, the lecturer identified Ekundayo Essien Audifferen as the one in sweater by the right hand side of the late Mrs. Audifferen. Ekundayo, as gathered, completed his undergraduate studies at UNILAG in 1981 with a Second Class Upper Division degree. According to information available to Daily Sun, a number of students who graduated from the Faculty of Arts of the institution in 1981 knew Ekundayo then as a young man from a very wealthy family.
When Ekundayo was mobilized by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) for his one year mandatory service to Nigeria in 1981, he was deployed to Kwara State. After spending three weeks at the Orientation Camp, he was posted to the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) for his primary assignment. He was discharged from the service in 1982.


Few months after his NYSC programme, Ekundayo was said to have travelled to Scotland where he was said to have attended University of Aberdeen for his Masters Degree in Strategic Studies. Since he travelled, some people who knew him when he was in Nigeria said they have lost contact with him. Ekundayo was reportedly baptized on August 5, 1961 at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Lagos and subsequently had his Confirmation and First Communion at the same church on June 4, 1978.

If an address found on envelope of a letter sent by one Dr. Audifferen of 10, Boyle Street, Lagos, is anything to go by, Ekundayo is probably related to one Mr. S.B. Audifferen, a resident of House 18, Nevern Road, SW London. Daily Sun also gathered that Ekundayo is probably a sibling to one Mrs. Abidu believed to be the last child of the late Chief (Mrs.) Ekanem Audifferen.
But the correct name of the woman whose corpse was deposited at the Morgue Le Pardon, Djeregbe, Benin Republic, is still a subject of controversy. At some points during the investigation, Daily Sun was told that the deceased was Miss Margaret Ekanem Utip, her husband’s grandfather was a half-caste, and the man’s white grandfather, Mr. Audifferen died in 1933.

This story is given more credence by the fact that the university don said he still recalls Ekundayo saying that his mother was a Calabar woman – Calabar then being a generic name for everyone from present day Cross River and Akwa Ibom States. The don also recalls that Ekundayo lived in Ikoyi with his family during their school days.
Fillers also revealed that there was a house-warming ceremony in Lagos in 2005 tagged: Warming of late Margaret Ekanem’s House.
It was also gathered that the late woman might be Chief (Mrs.) Ekanem Audifferen who could be one-time Miss Ekanem Utip from Oku in Ikot Offiong, Calabar. She was born in Beua, now known as Victoria, in Western Cameroon. The young Ekanem Utip attended Government Secondary School, beau from 1933 to 1941.

There was also a house-warming ceremony in Lagos in 2005, dubbed as: House-warming Ceremony of late Chief (Mrs.) Ekanem Audifferen. In the video clip of the ceremony made available to Daily Sun, the woman was variously called Doctor. An address found on the cartridge of a video recorded by SOAJ Video and Film Productions, 220, Ijegun Road, Ile-Ibadan Bus Stop, Ikotun, Lagos, in December 2005, showed that the house-warming ceremony took place at Number 10, Kassim Achiomu Street, Akesan Town, off LASU-Igando Road, Lagos.
A year after the purported posthumous house-warming, the woman was said to have resurfaced in Cotonou, Benin Republic, where she bought a house in Djeregbe and lived in the house until her death about five months ago. Some people also said that the late woman had two sons; Percy and Ahmed, adding that she might have had them for different fathers.

Another version of the information made available to Daily Sun disclosed that the deceased woman might be one Omodele Ayo Audifferen, who resided at 1, Odo Ogun Close, South West Ikoyi in 1979. She attended Federal School of Arts and Science (FSAD), Victoria Island, Lagos. While studying for her A Levels at FSAS, she was in the Group MSD. This means she was in the morning session classes and offered physics, chemistry and biology. Successful products of FSAS MSD group usually went on to study medicine, biochemistry, life sciences and related courses.

Some of the documents found in the late woman’s custody, including epaulettes, revealed that the wearer went through the rank of Mid-Shipman before being promoted a Sub-Lieutenant. The documents, including epaulettes, also made it known that the wearer went through the rank of Mid-Shipman before being promoted a Sub-Lieutenant. She probably served in the medical corps of the Nigerian Navy.
With so many loose ends to the story, reactions obtained by Daily Sun at the university now seem to point to a suspicion of fraud rather than the mystery many took the development for. One lecturer actually told this reporter that he has a strong suspicion that “someone somewhere faked a death in order to cash in on something; maybe life insurance money, or run away from a crime. For it is now obvious that the woman believed dead and buried may not have died after all. If I were in the police, I’ll need to visit her grave.”

However, it is hoped that with the fresh facts that Mr. Ekundayo Essien Audifferen is a son of the late wealthy woman who has landed property in Nigeria and Benin Republic, the controversy surrounding her identity would not only be laid to rest very soon, her remains would also be claimed from the Morgue Le Pardon, Djeregbe.

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