Our mum didn’t die of domestic violence –Ex-NBA president’s children

Children of a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), and his wife, Ranti, who died on Thursday, have debunked reports that their

mother’s death was caused by 28 years of domestic violence.

The six children, who paid glowing tributes to their late mother, made this denial in a statement sent from Kaduna to The PUNCH on Monday.

Two of the children, Paul and Benedict, who signed the statement on behalf of six others, said the comments of some personalities on social media and online reports suggesting that their mother was a victim of domestic violence were false.

Although they said the marriage between their father and mother had its ups and downs, they said it never degenerated to a level where their mother had to suffer domestic violence in the hands of their father.

They also threatened to take “all necessary steps” against those who published “defamatory remarks” aimed at tarnishing their family name.

The statement read in part, “We are still in pain at loss of our beloved mother who meant the world to us.

“We may be in mourning at this time, but this, in no uncertain terms, should, on any account, be mistaken for weakness as we, the children, will not hesitate to take all necessary steps against all and sundry who publish defamatory remarks aimed solely at tarnishing our family name and indeed the image of our dearly departed mother.”

Ranti, a lawyer and a former member of the Governing Council of the National Human Rights Commission, was aged 54.

She reportedly died of minor stroke in Kaduna on Thursday, July 6.

She was, up till the point of death, battling a divorce suit instituted against her by her husband some years back.

She was said to have fallen ill on Wednesday and died of heart attack on Thursday, the day she was scheduled to appear in court to give oral evidence in respect of the divorce suit.

Responding to online reports attributing the cause of their mother’s death to domestic violence, the children, although regretted that their parents had to live apart for the past four years, described the reports as fallacious rumours.