Dimeji Bankole loses daughter to sickle cell disease

Abiodun Onafuye/Abeokuta

Tragedy struck on Wednesday at the home of the former Speaker of the Federal House of Representative, Rt. Hon Dimeji Bankole when the former number four citozen lost his first child, Semiat Yewande Bankole to Sickle Cell Disease.

In a statement made available to newsmen on Thursday by the family in Abeokuta, Ogun state capital, the girl died on Nigeria’s Independence Day, Wednesday 1 October in London.

“With gratitude to Almighty Allah and with heavy hearts, we announce the demise of our daughter Yewande Semiat Bankole, aged 6 years, at St Mary’s Children’s Hospital, London on October 1,2014,” the statement read.

The late Yewande was said to have been born with HbSS Sickle cell disease.

“She was a radiant girl who struggled with the disease and her condition was originally managed at a Lagos hospital, but she was later transferred to a London hospital where she eventually died”.

While stating that her remains would be buried according to Islamic rites, the Bankole family requested the prayers of all at this time of immense grief and profound shock.