The remains of Dr Tosin Ajayi, founder of First Foundation Medical Centre and husband of former beauty queen Helen Prest-Ajayi, were finally laid to rest in Lagos on Thursday, February 11.
It comes 10 months after his death at St Nicholas Hospital, Lagos on April 26, 2020.
The funeral was attended by the former Miss Nigeria, Ajayi’s first wife Yemisi, the deceased’s children, friends and family.
“My late husband Dr Tosin Ajayi has finally gone to rest in peace. If any of you happen to bump into m’lady Hon. Justice L.A.F Oluyemi just say THANK YOU on my behalf,” Mrs Prest-Ajayi wrote in a social media post on Friday morning.
The delay in burying Dr Ajayi was caused by a legal battle launched by Yemisi and her five children.
Ajayi got married to Yemisi, a retired chief nursing officer with the Lagos State Government, over 40 years ago but the couple separated after 23 years.
He subsequently went into a relationship with Helen, and the two had a daughter together.
Although Ajayi and his first wife were separated, they were not divorced until the time of his death.
Attempts by Yemisi’s five children to retrieve their father’s corpse from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital proved impossible because the death certificate and other documents needed at the mortuary were with Helen.
The children said they suspected foul play in their father’s death because they were not notified of his passing until days after and that Helen took away some vital documents from his office.
After months of legal battle, the court ruled that the burial should go ahead and that both women and their children should be part in the exercise.
There was, however, commotion at the graveside over the dust to dust rite.
Disagreement over the order of performing the rite led to a scuffle, with both parties fighting for the shovel.
