'We are two mothers who have lost a son': Yves Sakila's biological mother wants to see him 'one last time'
Jean Claude Lufimpadio (Sakila), Yves Sakila biological uncle and elder of Yves family in Dublin on Tuesday.
The biological mother of Yves Sakila, who died after an incident outside a Dublin department store, has called for “justice” for her son, and appealed for support for the woman who raised him in Ireland.
Janet Sakila said she was “heartbroken” over the death of her son, and thanked his stepmother Angel Issemezey Anzibi for taking care of him after he moved to Ireland in a reunification programme.
Speaking from the Democratic Republic of Congo in an exclusive interview facilitated and translated by community leader and chairperson of the Africa Solidarity Centre Ireland Lassane Quedraogo, Ms Sakila said she wanted to see her son “one last time” before he is buried.
The 35-year-old died following an incident outside a department store on Henry Street on May 15, after he was reportedly restrained. The circumstances surrounding his death remain under Garda investigation.
He was pronounced dead at the Mater hospital and his family are awaiting the results of his autopsy and toxicology tests.
Speaking also through her brother-in-law, Jean-Claude Sakila, who travelled from Belgium to Dublin this week following Yves's death, Ms Sakila said she was grateful to Angel, the woman who cared for Yves after he moved to Ireland as a child.
“We are two mothers who have lost a son,” Ms Sakila said.
“I thank Angel for everything she did. I respect her. I have asked my brother-in-law [Jean Claude Sakila] to come to Dublin to help her. It was not easy what she did but she loved my son. She needs our support."
Sitting opposite his former sister-in-law Angel Issemezey Anzibi, Jean-Claude Sakila outlined the family’s position and their desire to support Angel as she navigates the aftermath of Yves’ death.
Mr Sakila, now the eldest surviving brother in the Sakila family, said his nephew Yves’s life had been marked by hardship long before he came to Ireland.
He explained his late brother, Yves’s father, Noberto Long Sakila, died in an accident shortly after the boy was born.
According to the family, Janet Sakila struggled in the aftermath of her husband’s death and eventually made the difficult decision to send her son to Ireland when he was 13 years old in the hope he would have a more stable future.
“He was brought here by Angel’s ex-husband Alain, who my younger brother and he is Yves’s uncle. I have not seen him in six years. I am in touch regularly with Angel and Janet," said Jean-Claude.
Gesturing to Angel, he said: “It was very hard for her, she was struggling. Angel suffered. It was very hard for her. She was left with six children, including Yves, on her own at the time after she divorced my brother. She needs our help."
Mr Sakila provided photographs of him holding Yves when he was a baby and says he was "beautiful". He also provided one of his late brother Norbert Longo Sakila, Yves' father.
He said there were originally 10 siblings in his own family, but only three are alive today.
“My father is dead and I have seven siblings that are dead too. There are only three left. I am the oldest," he said.
He recalled how his late nephew Yves was “a quiet and respectful boy” and said he had memories of him as a baby before leaving Congo himself years ago.
“He was not a violent child,” he said. “He was shy at first, but he was a very good boy.”
He said Janet Sakila specifically asked him to travel to Ireland after her son’s death to support Angel and assist the family.
“She knows how much Angel suffered,” he said. “Not only for Yves, but for all the children, she is very sad and would like to see her son before he is buried."
Jean-Claude also said the family wished to see Angel recognised as central to decisions surrounding Yves’s funeral arrangements and the ongoing process following his death.
He indicated the family wanted to cooperate fully with any Garda inquiries, and said he was willing to provide whatever assistance was required.
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Yves Sakila allegedly tried to steal from a department store on Henry Street twice on the day he died, the family has been told.
On the second occasion, he was restrained and later lost his life — the family has not received the outcome from the autopsy carried out on the body.
Angel formally identified Yves on May 16 at the City Morgue in Whitehall in North Dublin with her daughter.
She had reared him since he moved to Ireland at 13, she told the this week.
“They were children. They came to the house and became my children too. I love them so much," she said.
“He never forgot us and would come to see us all the time. He was very intelligent. Very smart with electronics.
“He could fix televisions, beds, machines — anything. He was a good boy.”
Yves went on to suffer with emotional and mental health issues as well as drug problems following his complex upbringing, and was taken into care after “going off the rails”.
He later lived in homeless shelters around Dublin but had always visited Angel and her children.
The family’s solicitor, John Gerard Cullen, said he had formally written to the department store where Yves Sakila was allegedly shoplifting a bottle of perfume on the day he died, to request access to CCTV footage relating to the incident on May 15.
Footage taken on phones outside is understood to cover an incident lasting more than four minutes outside the Henry Street store.
The case has generated significant public attention in recent days, with growing calls from members of the African community in Dublin for clarity surrounding the circumstances of the man's death.
Community representatives have also appealed for calm while official investigations continue.
Jean-Claude said the family hoped the focus would remain on Yves himself and on supporting those closest to him.
“This is a hard time for everybody,” he said. “We just want respect for Yves and support for Angel.”
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