My story, by FIRS official accused of unleashing dogs on wife

• Published date: 14 January 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

ADirector at the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Nuraini Olalekan Onikoyi, who was recently accused of ordering his househelp to unleash their domestic dogs on his wife, has debunked the accusations as 'baseless, unrealistic and spurious'.

The incident, according to a report published by a national newspaper on December 12, 2022, had occurred at their home on Fadeyi Street, Igbogbo, Ikorodu, Lagos. But Onikoyi believes that the story was a deliberate effort to destroy the good name he had built for more than 30 years.

Narrating what happened on the fateful day, Onikoyi said: 'It is true that we have been having issues in our marriage and, as a matter of fact, I have filed for a divorce which is yet to be resolved by the court.

'On the night of 30th November 2022, Mr Clifford, my personal assistant, released the dogs from their cage at 7:24pm. This has been a normal practice for over two years we've had the dogs for security after every member of the house must have entered. Unknown to him, my wife, Mrs Emily Onikoyi, had gone out again.

'I was having my dinner when I heard a sudden cry for help. I immediately rushed downstairs and noticed the dogs had attacked my wife. I immediately rushed her to the nearest hospital while putting on just a singlet.

'I asked Clifford what had happened and he said he saw when Madam came home while he was washing the car but he didn't know she had gone out again before he released the dogs.

'I thought everyone was inside already.'

In a CCTV footage made available to The Nation, Emily was seen attacked by the dogs while a man identified as Clifford in the footage rushed to rescue her.

In another clip, Clifford was seen being tortured allegedly by one of Emily's children named Darlington with another man in military uniform.

Onikoyi alleged that days after the incident on December 4, 2022, Darlington brought an unidentified man in military uniform to the house to attack Clifford by stabbing him until he found a way to escape and locked himself in a room with his body covered in blood.

His words: 'These dogs have been living with us for more than two years. I adopted them when they were just six weeks old and Emily sometimes feed them herself, especially during festive seasons.

'What happened was unfortunate and surprising, and it is unusual for dogs to directly attack a familiar face the way she was attacked.

'I have the CCTV footage of all these happenings in the house, including how Emily was attacked by the dogs, which has...