Alhaja Fatimo Aregbe could not find her money, a whooping N.3m. Whodunnit? She pounced on Kikelomo, one of her salesgirls, and cut her hand off.
Medical practitioners are currently battling to save the life of a 25-year-old salesgirl, Kikelomo, after her wrist was reportedly cut off by her employer, one Alhaja Fatimo Aregbe. Aregbe lives at the Idi Iroko border, in Ogun State but owns and operates several wholesale shops in the town and at other border towns like Sango-Ota and Owode.
Kikelomo reportedly joined Alhaja Aregbe’s employ some seven years ago when she left secondary school and could not raise enough cash to further her studies.
It was reported that Kilelomo, a native of Igbo Ora in Oyo State, had been in charge of her boss’ stall at Owode in the last three years where she remitted proceeds on a weekly basis. All financial remissions are however done through her boss’s account in a new generation bank.
On her part, Aregbe reportedly shuttled between Nigeria and the West African coast for her business. Though Aregbe keeps a permanent apartment at Ketu, Republic of Benin, she also keeps an apartment at Idi Iroko Road. She hailsfrom Aiyetoro in Ogun State.
It was gathered that on Friday, 15 February, 2013, Alhaja Aregbe returned from her frequent travels and summoned her sales representatives, from all over her shops, to her apartment in Idi Iroko. She had reportedly been away from Nigeria for about six weeks.
It was claimed that the businesswoman had information from her bankers that the deposits from her Owode shop had not been forthcoming as before. It is the shop Kilkelomo manages. Of the seven sales representatives that manage her shops, only three of them reportedly honoured her invitation for the meeting.
Kikelomo was one of them. It was said that the other four had been given a clean bill of health and asked to remain at their posts by Aregbe. The three who made it to the meeting were the ones whose bank transactions were in question.
Having waited at the woman’s lobby for about three hours, the three salesgirls were reportedly summoned to the boss’ sitting room and scolded for their alleged financial impropriety as reported by her banker. Kikelomo was alleged to have short-changed her boss to the tune of N300, 000. Kikelomo, was however reported not to have taken kindly to the accusation.
She was said to have thrown caution to the wind, demanding that her boss name the banker that made the allegation against her. Alhaja Aregbe definitely would also not take kindly to her an employee accused of financial impropriety shouting on her. Grace, one of the three salesgirls summoned by Aregbe told Saturday Mirror on telephone that she too was alleged to have diverted N130, 000 for her personal use.
The Cotonou-born Grace who denied the allegation said that Alhaja Aregbe asked each of them to refund the money claimed to be missing in their respective shops before the end of the said week. “When Mama told us that we stole her money as she was told by the bank, every one of us was shocked. She threatened to jail us if she did not get the money she claimed we stole by the end of that week.
That was when Kike got up and had a shouting match with Mama. It was during the shouting match that Mama picked the axe she was using to cut dried fish and aimed it at Kike’s wrist and cut it off,” Grace added.
Once Kikelomo’s wrist was almost severed from her body, Aregbe reportedly hurried down the building and organised how she would be ferried to the hospital. It was reported that moment after the incident, Kikelomo, now in a pool of her own blood, fainted only to be revived at a hospital said to be at Sango Ota in Ogun State.
While Alhaja Aregbe reportedly released her car key to a vulcanizer beside her house to convey the bleeding Kikelomo to the hospital she claimed she needed to get some money in the bank. She claimed she would join them at the hospital once she was through with the banks. She never did. Grace continued, “By the time Kike’s wrist was cut, blood spilled all over the apartment as she was wailing in agony. The two of us there were helpless until two men came from downstairs to rescue the situation.
Kike was hurriedly taken to a hospital at Sango Ota in Mama’s car. Mama did not go with them claiming that she needed to get some money at the bank. But ever since we heard that she has not shown face at the hospital,” Grace said. Kikelomo was reportedly moved from the Sango hospital by her family to an undisclosed location on Tuesday, 19 February, 2013.
One of Kikelomo’s uncles in Lagos reportedly went to Owode apparently hoping to meet with Argbe, but the woman had not been seen since. The uncle, identified as Alaba, reportedly told some sympathizers at Owode that Kikelomo is responding to treatment at a hospital in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Aregbe’s two phone lines were switched off when contacted on phone. However, a man who craved anonymity but claimed to be a Aregbe’s neighbour said he heard the shouting match between the employer and her employees on the fateful day. But he said he never gave it any serious meaning until Kikelomo’s voice was heard wailing in agony.