A former beauty queen, Helen Priest is currently embroiled in trouble over the circumstances surrounding the death of the late founder and Medical Director of First Foundation Medical Limited, Lagos, Dr. Tosin Ajayi, who was said to be her lover.
The five children of the deceased have started taking steps to unravel the circumstances behind the death of their father and the missing of some vital documents of their father’s business empire.
In a letter written to the Chief Judge of Lagos State, the children called for the investigations of Dr. Ajayi’s death and demanded the vital documents said to have been missing after the man’s demise as they suspected a foul play.
The late Dr. Ajayi was said to have begun a relationship with Helen Priest over a decade ago.
The children claimed that Helen was never legally married to their father, and that the marriage between him and their mother was never dissolved.
A source in the family said, “The five children are all accomplished. Two of them are medical doctors, while the others are also successful and well educated in their own right. They kept in touch with their father regularly, but he became unreachable apparently when he got sick and was possibly in hospital by then.
“Weeks before his death, he was no longer answering phone calls and they got worried. Helen took him to hospital without the knowledge of any of the children. She was the first to know about his demise and never informed any of them.
“According to the children, they reliably learnt that their dad had been in hospital for about four weeks prior to his demise. They only got to know after he had passed away but not from Helen.
“We were told that after his death, Helen went to his First Foundation office in Ikeja and made away with some items.”
The children were allegedly barred from viewing his corpse, which was deposited in the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital’s private mortuary.
The family source added that; “The children tried to see their father’s corpse and made arrangements with Helen. For a whole week, it was one story after the other; so, they decided to go to the mortuary themselves. They were, however, barred from seeing the corpse.
“So, they proceeded to the Ikeja Police Division and made a complaint against Helen and the mortuary. It was only after the police intervened that they were allowed to see the corpse.”
Sources close to the children revealed that they have vowed to take the matter up with the former beauty queen and retrieve all the documents relating to their father’s business, which they said included those relating to bank and financial transactions.
We gathered that, when contacted on the telephone, Helen said she was still mourning her husband and would not be able to speak.
Human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), has reportedly confirmed the steps being taking by the children of the deceased.
“It is true. We have written a letter to demand a coroner’s inquest. The children want to know the circumstances surrounding the death of their father. That is all I can say for now,” Falana said.
The late Dr Ajayi was a wealthy physician and businessman, and had interests in many companies. He first came into prominence in October 1986 when he tried to save the late publisher of the Newswatch magazine, Dele Giwa, after a parcel bomb exploded on him.
A family friend of the Ajayis said that the deceased and his wife, Oluyemisi, a retired Chief Nursing Officer with the Lagos State Government, were legally married for over 45 years even though they were estranged as of the time of his death.
– The Witness