Tears flowed freely from grieving family members, friends and sympathizers on Wednesday as the remains of Adeniyi Oluwatosin Sanni, the murdered aide of Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, were lowered to the earth.
Mr. Sanni was killed on August 5, 2023 after an encounter with security agents at a check point in Ojodu Berger area of Ikeja and his body dumped at Oshodi area. He was 42.
His final homeward Journey began in the morning with his remains leaving the Military Hospital Yaba for RCCG Rhema Chapel (Young Adults & Youth Church) 4, Righteous Road Canaanland, Redemption City of God, Mowe Ogun State where a short funeral service was conducted in his honour and afterwards interred at the RCCG Camp Vault, Mowe along Lagos – Ibadan expressway.
Grieving Senator Solomon Adeola (APC, Ogun West) used the occasion to announce adoption of the three children of the late Adeniyi Oluwatosin Sanni.
Adeola announced this at the funeral while speaking through the Director General of his campaign organization in Lagos, Barrister Babatunde Raji-Label.
He said he has adopted Moraraoluwa, Oluwashindara and Oluwafeyidara Sanni as his children going forward.
The Senator who is the chairman of Senate Committee on Appropriations added that the welfare of his aged mother and immediate family will be catered for on a monthly basis.
“It impossible for me to find a replacement for Niyi. He is my blood and a dedicated aide of almost two decades. I am greatly grieved by his unwarranted death. As a father figure to him, I had to stay away from his funeral as tradition demands,” he stated.
The Senator disclosed that a Trust fund he established with a donation and contributions from friends, associates and colleagues yielded N55 million in less than a week and the fund has been applied to pay for the children’s education in their present institution with adjustment for increases for the next 6 to 10 years of their education.
Senator Adeola thanks all those who commiserated with him and members of Mr. Sanni’s Family with a prayer that God Almighty will grant all the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
The sermon for the funeral was given by Pastor Gbenga Odunowo of the Young Adult and Youth Church of RCCG RHEMA CHAPEL with the theme that only our good works while alive mattered, stressing that the testimonies about Mr. Sanni is a pointer to the good works he did while alive.
The RCCG pastor urged all to do good works while alive and accept Jesus Christ as their savior for the salvation of their souls.
The funeral service was attended by associates of the Senator from Lagos and Ogun State including Hon. Adekunle Adesina, Hon. Babatunde Olaotan, Pastor Kenny Jones, Mrs. Funmi Efuwape, Hon. Dr. Babatunde Adejare and a host of others, according to a release signed by Chief Kayode Odunaro, Media Adviser to Senator Adeola.
Meanwhile, the chairman of Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Adeola has accused soldiers of the Nigeria Army operating checkpoints around Ikeja axis of Lagos State of being responsible for the killing of his senior aide, Mr. Adeniyi Oluwatosin Sanni, in the early hours of Saturday August 5, 2023.
The Daily Crucible recalled that the bereaved Senator had earlier stated that information available to him on the circumstances indicates that Mr. Sanni was stopped at a checking point around Ojodu- Berger Area of Lagos on his way to his home at Isheri by ‘security agents’ who asked him to provide the documents of the car he was driving, which he did through a call to his wife who sent all the documents to his phone WhatsApp. It was gathered that the wife called a while later and the late Mr. Sanni told him soldiers are still checking the vehicle’s paper. That was the last she heard from her husband and the body of Mr. Sanni, ridden with bullets was later discovered at Toyota Bus Stop area of Oshodi, close to a military barrack.
In an update about the investigation of the murder and armed robbery by the Nigerian Police Force, through a statement issued in Abuja, Senator Adeola stated that he is of the firm believe, based on available facts at the disposal of the Police that his aide was killed by a syndicate of soldiers operating under the newly deployed Commander of 9 Brigade, Ikeja Cantonment of the Nigeria Army, Brigadier General Nsikan John Edet, through mounting of checkpoints and robbing of lone occupants of cars.
Senator Adeola in the statement he personally signed said top Police sources familiar with the investigation informed him that a similar brutal killing and armed robbery occurred around the same Ojodu- Berger late Thursday night of August 17, 2023 resulting in the killing of another Nigerian whose body was discovered around Iyana- Ipaja after he was taken away by soldiers from the checkpoint.
According to information revealed by the senator in his statement, unknown to the soldiers, the occupant of the car they killed and took away his car was the second car in a convoy of two heading towards the same destination. The first car passed the soldiers checkpoint but the second car was stopped to check his vehicle’s papers. On noticing the absence of the second car after a while, the occupant of the first car (name withheld) placed a call to his colleague in the second car who informed him that he was being taking to Iyana Ipaja by the soldiers at the checkpoint. That was the last he heard from him and his dead body was later discovered dumped on the road just like Mr. Sanni. The survivor in the first car reported the case to the Police and a pattern of armed robbery and killing in the area involving men in Army uniform was established.
Senator Adeola called on the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Taoreed Lagbaja to direct the fishing out of the killers of his aide for further investigation, prosecution and justice for the deceased as a pattern of killings and armed robbery has been established against soldiers mounting late night checkpoints around Ikeja with similar unreported incidences in recent times around Ikeja adding that the Nigerian Army cannot be seen to cordon or harbour rogue elements robbing and killing innocent Nigerians within its fold.
Till date, the black Toyota Camry of Mr. Sanni, his phones and other valuables are yet to be recovered.
