Family Petitions FG Over Polish Man’s Cremation Of Nigerian Wife

The family of Mrs. Oluwashola Gaska (nee Adefolalu) has petitioned the Federal Government to unravel the mystery surrounding her death in Poland and the cremation of her corpse by her husband, Mr. Jakub Gaska, without their consent.

The deceased’s elder sister, Mrs. Abimbola Essien-Nelson, at a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday, alleged that Oluwashola was murdered and her corpse hastily cremated to cover it despite the family’s objection.

In the petition, dated January 29, 2017, and titled, ‘Petition against Mr. Jakub Gaska for the murder, unlawful cremation and burial of Oluwashola Atunrayo Gaska (nee Adefolalu) in  Krakow, Poland, on December 28, 2016,’ the family detailed how the late Oluwashola, who studied in Poland, settled in the country and later married Gaska in 2010.

The petition read in part, “The last verbal conversation I had with the deceased took place on December 24, 2016, and she made no complaint about her health. At about 11.28am, on Wednesday, December 28, 2016, I received a telephone call from the husband that ‘there had been an accident, Shola had fallen unconscious and had died.’

“The husband did not tell me the nature of the so called accident. I was still conversing with the husband when the telephone was disconnected.

“The husband later called me back on the same day, stating that Oluwashola fell ill on Tuesday, and that he and his sister took her to the a hospital (the name of the hospital was not provided). He said she passed away at about 3am on Wednesday, December 28, 2016.”

The petition added that  plans were being made to travel to Krakow to give the deceased a befitting burial when her husband informed them that her remains would be cremated as he and Olwashola agreed during a discussion.

It was gathered that the family requested that the husband wait until the arrival of family members in January 2017 to partake in the funeral rites.

“We also made it clear to him that because of the sudden nature of her death, we want to see her corpse. We sent several sets of representatives from the Nigerian community to him in this regard, but he refused to allow anyone access to the corpse. His response was that Oluwashola said only Ambibola and no other person, should see her corpse,” the petition read.

Gaska reportedly cremated Oluwashola’s remains on January 2, 2017. He also allegedly interred the ashes on January 7, 2017, without officially informing the Adefolalus.

The Senate President, Speaker, House of Representatives, President, Republic of Poland, among others, were also copied in the petition.