Popular Sapele Hotelier, Semekolo, allegedly beaten to death by his two sons: The true story

Our attention has been drawn to the negative publications on the death of our Late Daddy, Joseph Emekeme, popularly known as Semekolo by an online blog, Oasismagazine.com.ng, urhobotoday.com, Sunrise.ng, barristerNg.com, Newscoven.ng, and other Facebook reports. These false allegations and commentaries in social media portraying his one and only wife of over 40 years and sons are untrue. This is not a way to portray our family. We just lost our beloved Father and our mother lost her Husband.

We, his children stand in solid unity and are here to dismiss and put an end to the lies circulating on the internet, by individuals and all media outlets.

We urge and firmly warn ALL PAID/UNPAID reporters, bloggers, individuals and the entire public to cease from spreading false information about our Father the patriarch of our family whom we are grieving over his death, our Mother, the Matriarch of our family, and our brothers.

Our Father had a struggle with Diabetes, high sugar levels and hypertension for the last 20 years. Lately, he suffered from Kidney disease. His earliest treatment of these illnesses started at Divine Care Hospital – Sapele Delta State and subsequently at Kings County Hospital – Brooklyn, New York, Lana Hospital – Sapele, Delta State, Sandy Springs Family Medicine – Roswell, Georgia, Vascular Medical Associates – Alpharetta, Georgia, Village Podiatry – Acworth, Georgia, USA at different stages of his illnesses and was placed on medications by multiple doctors.

In September 2022, we brought our Daddy to the United States for medical treatment after he lost blood circulation to both legs and could not feel his legs at times. He received medical treatments for his condition after multiple tests were run by doctors in the United States.

Doctors in the United States advised him not to consume alcohol, to adhere strictly to stay on his medications and practice a healthy lifestyle. If not adhered to, his condition will worsen thereby leading to a stroke, total kidney shut down and heart attack (also reported in the medical reports given by his doctor in the USA in 2022) which unfortunately happened.

After returning to Nigeria in November 2022, he told us, his children the America medication was not working fast enough so he stopped them and started on supplements received from a friend who told him will help his diabetic condition.

We believe every Family is not perfect and has experienced highs and lows and unfortunately, our family is experiencing the lowest moments of our lives. While our Father had a disagreement with his sons in early March 2023, he was never BEATEN as portrayed in the media. Please know that our Mother returned to Nigeria from her Omugwo(visit to care for her new grandchild) duty in the United States at the end of March 2023. Our brothers apologized to our father and the issue was resolved by the present head of the Emekeme family, our Father, and other persons. Our Brothers were prayed for by our father and the head of the Emekeme family in the presence of other persons. Our brothers left Sapele immediately and our Father resumed his normal daily activities. Our brothers never returned to Sapele until they were informed that our Father was ill in April 2023

On the 11th of April, our father was on his way back from his proposed University site around noon when he experienced partial paralysis while driving alone near Eku Road by the Amukpe roundabout, he quickly parked by the roadside and beckoned a passerby who helped him put a call through and was only able to get his hotel manager on the phone. The hotel manager arrived promptly and rushed him to Lana’s clinic in Sapele. Our mother was at her place of business when she received a call from our family friend that our father has been rushed to the hospital.

On our mother getting there, his elder brother who is now the present head of the Emekeme family, a pastor and some others were already there at the hospital.

Our Father was not improving at Lana Hospital and we decided to transfer him immediately to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin City, Edo State as that was the closest to Sapele where he continued to fight for his life. For 41 days our Daddy was fighting multiple seizures, kidney dialysis, high blood pressure and high sugar level and was on oxygen with our Mother by his side day after day until the end.

Our beloved Daddy joined his Maker on the 25th of May, 2023 at UBTH and is resting with God.

Sharing these details was extremely difficult for us, his children. We are grieving and mourning our Father and we ask for RESPECT and PRIVACY from the general public for our Daddy who was and will forever be a GREAT MAN.

We demand that you stop forthwith the negative allegations, and defamation of character of our Mother and brothers that are being put up on the blogs and the public because they are untrue and our Daddy deserves to be remembered as the loving Husband, Father and Grandfather that he was.

Sincerely,
Onoriode Isu (née Emekeme)
For the children.