This is not a riddle. It is not a movie line. It is the true story of a Nigerian man who died in his own house, and for four long years, nobody knew.
On the 20th January, 2026, a strange and disturbing discovery was made in Ibadan, Oyo State.
It was not a crime scene filled with blood or broken doors. It was not a loud tragedy that shook the streets.
It was a silent one. A story that had been waiting patiently for years to be told. The man at the centre of this story was named Aderemi Abiola.
For years, nobody asked where he went. Nobody reported him missing.
Nobody knocked on his door to check if he was alive. And that is how a human being diɛd and slowly turned to bones inside his own house, while life continued outside.
The house was located at Idi Orogbo, Adeosun, Life Forte area of Awotan, Apete, in Ibadan.
To anyone passing by, it looked like an abandoned property. The compound was overgrown with weeds.
Bushes had taken over the fence. Grass had swallowed the driveway. It looked like a place that time itself had forgotten. Neighbours assumed the owner had travelled.
Some thought he relocated. Others simply did not care enough to ask questions. After all, the house was always quiet, even when the man was alive.
Aderemi Abiola lived alone. He was known as a quiet man, a recluse, someone who kept to himself. He did not disturb people.
He did not attract attention. He came and went without noise. In a society where everyone is busy with their own struggles, his lifestyle made it easy for him to disappear without alarm.
Years passed. Rain fell on the roof of the house. Sun baked the walls. Grass kept growing. Dust settled.
And inside one of the rooms, a man lay on his bed, unmoving, slowly returning to the earth. No one knew.
It was only 20th January ,2026 that something finally changed. Members of the community decided to clear the overgrown compound.
Some wanted to stop criminals and reptiles from hiding there. Others were simply tired of seeing the abandoned house.
They sought permission from the police before entering. That decision uncovered a truth nobody was ready for.
When they forced their way into the house, the smell spoke first. A heavy, disturbing odour that told a story of death before eyes could confirm it. Inside one of the rooms, they found a sight that would never leave them.
On the bed lay skeletonized human remains. The body had decomposed completely. Flesh was gone. What remained were bones, arranged in the shape of a man who had once lived, breathed, and hoped.
The skeleton was on the bed, not on the floor, not outside, but exactly where a person would lie down to rest.
Then they noticed something that froze everyone. A mobile phone was still in his hand. That single detail raised painful questions.
Was he calling for help. Was the phone dead. Was there no network. Did he collapse suddenly. Did he wait, hoping someone would answer.
No one could tell. Police officers arrived and secured the scene. There were no signs of forced entry. The house was locked from the inside. There were no marks of struggle.
No blood. No broken furniture. This was not a murder. It was loneliness.
Inside the compound, his car was still parked where he left it. Grass had grown around it year after year, slowly swallowing it. The car, like its owner, had blended into silence.
During a careful search of the room, police found a wallet. Inside it was a driver’s licence. That was how the bones finally got a name.
Aderemi Abiola. A driver. A Nigerian man. A human being. Investigators later concluded that he likely died around 2022.
That meant his body lay in that room for about four years, undiscovered. Four years of silence. or an answer.
Another life hoping to be noticed. Please be your neighbor’s keeper, check on them when you can.
