Taxi driver’s widow says she forgives his killer

THE wife of a taxi driver who died after being beaten at a rank in Dublin has said she forgives the man responsible but does not know how she will face Christmas without her husband.

Olusola Ayanwole said she was awaiting the return of the body of her husband, Moses, from pathologists and the gardaí so he can be laid to rest in Dublin later this week.

Moses, a 41-year-old originally from Nigeria, had been a taxi driver in Dublin for almost nine years. A father of one, he died a week ago, days after being assaulted at a taxi rank on Pearse Street.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Ms Ayanwole said: “I am a Christian, and they say you must forgive. Because of that I forgive him (the man who beat her husband). Even if I see him I would say I forgive him.”

The couple’s 12-year-old son has continued to attend school but Ms Ayanwole said he had been repeatedly asking for his father.

Asked if she knew what occurred on the night of the assault, Ms Ayanwole said: “It is only Moses who can tell. I can forgive the family of the guy, but I cannot forget my husband. I cannot bring my husband back.”

She said she was still grieving and did not know how the family would cope over Christmas or what they would do.

Earlier, speaking on Radio One, Ms Ayanwole said she was shocked when gardaí told her Moses had been assaulted. “It is still like a dream, that I will not see Moses again. For this to happen to me, it’s very sad.” She said she did not believe the attack was racially motivated. Gardaí want to speak to a taxi driver who picked up three men and a woman on Pearse Street at about 12.30am on November 21.