James Aiyepeku, father of murdered Kogi State photojournalist Ayobami Aiyepeku, has died just three weeks after his son’s killing.
Family sources told GIST9JA that Aiyepeku died on Tuesday, August 12, from a suspected stroke caused by the shock of Ayobami’s death on July 22.
Speaking at the family home in Lokoja, the late journalist’s elder brother, Timothy Aiyepeku, said their father never recovered from the trauma.
He recalled that after making burial arrangements for Ayobami on August 6, he returned to find his father had collapsed and was hospitalised. Despite brief signs of improvement, his health deteriorated until his passing.
Timothy described the circumstances of Ayobami’s death as suspicious, noting the disappearance of both his phone and that of the alleged killer, Oluwapelumi Adebayo, a colleague.
Adebayo was named by police as the prime suspect and was found dead in a Lokoja hotel room on July 23, a day after the murder.
The Aiyepeku family has called on police to intensify investigations, expressing faith that justice will be served.
Kogi State Police Command spokesperson, SP Williams Ovye-Aya, confirmed earlier that Adebayo allegedly killed Ayobami in an office at GRA, near the Government House, before taking his own life.
