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Ifeanyi Adeleke: Davido's son, 3, found dead at bottom of swimming pool, cook and nanny detained by cops

Davido and his fiancé Chioma Rowland were not at home when the tragedy occured and the child was under the care of the nanny

BANANA ISLAND, NIGERIA: In a very tragic incident, the toddler son of Nigerian singer David Adedeji Adeleke, who is more popular as Davido, died after drowning in a swimming pool. Little Ifeanyi Adeleke was reportedly found at the bottom of the pool on Monday, October 31, at his father’s house when the 29-year-old record producer and his fiancé Chioma Rowland were not at home.

It has been said that the three-year-old boy was taken to the hospital after being taken out of the water but could not be saved. Later, eight staff members of Davido were called for interrogation by cops and as per a source, the cook and nanny have been detained. The insider reportedly revealed, “It was the work of the nanny to take care of the child (Ifeanyi); the nanny was negligent or how could the boy have left the house without her knowledge? The boy left the house, walked to the back where the swimming pool is situated and fell into the swimming pool.”

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“Nobody noticed until much later. At that point in time, he had drowned and was at the bottom of the swimming pool. So, they brought him out and rushed him to the Lagoon Hospital, where the doctors tried unsuccessfully to revive him. They left the hospital and rushed the boy to Evercare Hospital, where he was declared dead. They have deposited his corpse in the mortuary for an autopsy to reveal the cause of death. All the domestic workers at home when the incident happened have been questioned by the police but only the nanny and cook were detained,” the source noted.

The insider also claimed that an autopsy may also be carried out as they added, “Though the family members are not saying anything yet because they are still in shock but until anybody says stop, the standard procedure is to conduct an autopsy and we are going to follow that procedure just like in any case of death.”

The spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, said, “I spoke with the DPO and he said the nanny and the cook have been detained. Other domestic workers brought in for questioning were released.” Besides, an ex-commissioner of Police in Ogun State, Edward Ajogun, said surveillance footage might help in further probe. 

He stated, “Going by the personality of Davido, one should expect that all of these security gadgets are already on the ground. Someone living at Banana Island will surely have all these security gadgets installed.”

“CCTV is like a third eye; it is a technology built to put an environment under surveillance. It is built to serve the purposes of prevention and detection of crime. As a crime detection technology, where crime has happened, the CCTV will assist in giving an insight into how that particular crime happened and making it easier to determine who perpetrated that crime,” Ajogun added.

Meanwhile, tributes have poured in for the little one as Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu tweeted: “Death leaves a heartache no words can heal and today, I express my deepest condolences to David and Chioma, over the death of their son. Ifeanyi was loved and his smile made the world smile. I pray that God grants you strength even as my thoughts and prayers are with you.” Ayo Makun wrote on Instagram: “The death of a child is unnatural, unfair, and tragic, this hit me so bad.”

Former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, added, “I send my sincere condolences to Davido and Chioma, over the death of their son Ifeanyi. I cannot begin to imagine the pains they are going through at the moment. May God grant them healing, strength and comfort in this trying time. My thoughts and prayers are with the family.-PO.”