Family recounts fears, separation and mother’s painful medical ordeal
It was against this backdrop that Adeniran Nurudeen Adewale opened up to the media about the experience that led his brother, Adeniran Adekunle Kameel, to leave Nigeria for Canada.
Born and raised in Ibadan, Adekunle had built a career in the banking sector, working with a commercial bank before later joining a microfinance bank, where he eventually became a Team Lead.
It was further disclosed that Adekunle had privately identified as bisexual and had spent years keeping that part of his life away from public knowledge because of the social and religious environment in which he was raised.
The situation, however, reportedly became more difficult in 2022 following a relationship he had with a man he met while working at the microfinance bank.
When the relationship ended, threats were allegedly made against him. The experience, the family account states, became sufficiently disturbing for him to seek a transfer from Ibadan to another branch of the microfinance bank in Abia State.
But leaving Ibadan did not end the family's concerns.
In 2023, Adekunle obtained a Canadian study visa and travelled to Canada on December 8, of the same year to study at Niagara College.
The initial plan, it was learnt, was simply to study, work lawfully and build a future in Canada.
Then, while he was already in Canada, events back home reportedly took another painful turn.
People allegedly looking for Adekunle were said to have gone to his mother, Mrs. Adeniran Oluwakemi, seeking information about her son's whereabouts.
What followed left the family deeply shaken.
The mother reportedly suffered a serious head injury during the incident and was taken to hospital for treatment. She remained there before she was eventually discharged.
A medical report supplied alongside the family's account documents an extensive chronic left subdural haemorrhage, measuring approximately 2.2 by 2.4 by 15.3 centimetres, with an estimated volume of 42.3ml.
The CT brain report also records mass effect on the left brain parenchyma and compression of the left lateral ventricle. Its conclusion lists extensive chronic left subdural haemorrhage and chronic right maxillary sinusitis.
The report was approved by a consultant radiologist.
For the family, however, the document represents more than medical terminology. It is a record of the condition their mother was left battling after an already traumatic period.
The medical report confirms the brain condition identified through the CT scan, but does not establish how the injury occurred. The circumstances surrounding the incident remain part of the family's account.
Meanwhile, Adekunle remained in Canada, carrying the worry of what was happening to those he had left behind.
It was further disclosed that the experience placed considerable emotional pressure on him, particularly as concerns about his family's safety continued even after his departure.
For Adewale, speaking about the ordeal is not simply about explaining why his brother left Nigeria.
It is about telling the story of a family caught between fear, separation and the hope of finding safety elsewhere.
A brother left home to pursue an education and build a future. His family remained behind. And their mother, according to the family's account, eventually found herself receiving hospital treatment after a frightening incident connected to the search for her son.
The experience, the family says, continues to live with them.
