Family members, close friends, and coworkers of the late Adeniyi Sanni, an aide to Senator Solomon Adeola, gathered together on Wednesday to bid their final farewell to him.
During the church service, Sanni’s widow, children, extended family, and sympathetic well-wishers couldn’t hold back their tears as they paid their respects. The touching ceremony concluded with the interment of Sanni’s remains at the Redeemed Camp vault, situated in Mowe along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Tragically, Sanni’s life was abruptly cut short on the early morning of Saturday, August 5, 2023, in Lagos.
According to a statement released by Senator Adeola’s Media Adviser, Kayode Odunaro, the events leading to Sanni’s untimely demise unfolded when he was halted by security personnel at a checkpoint in Ojodu while en route to his residence in Isheri, Lagos.
He was requested to produce the vehicle documents, a task he entrusted to his wife, who sent them to his phone via WhatsApp.
Odunaro explained that shortly after this exchange, Sanni’s wife reached out to his associates in distress, conveying her inability to contact her husband by phone. This alarming development prompted the immediate formation of a search party.
It was through an unexpected call from concerned passersby, who used the contact information found on Sanni’s driver’s licence, that his wife was informed of the tragic discovery: her husband’s lifeless body, bearing gunshot wounds, had been callously abandoned near the Toyota Bus Stop in Oshodi, Lagos.
In a separate statement released on Monday, Senator Adeola made a grave allegation, saying that his aide had met his demise at the hands of a group of soldiers operating under the command of the newly-appointed leader of the 9 Brigade at Ikeja Cantonment of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier General Nsikan Edet.
These soldiers were allegedly involved in the establishment of checkpoints and the unlawful robbery of solitary vehicle occupants.
Following the touching funeral service, Babatunde Raji-Label, the Director General of Senator Adeola’s Campaign Organisation, shared further heartening news.
He revealed that the compassionate senator had taken the deceased aide’s children, Moraraoluwa, Oluwashindara, and Oluwafeyidara, under his wing.
Additionally, at the senator’s behest, associates of the late aide had rallied together to amass a substantial sum of over N55 million to provide for his elderly grandmother, mother, and immediate family members.
Raji-Label also revealed that Senator Adeola has pledged to provide the late aide’s mother with a lifelong monthly stipend as a heartfelt gesture of care and compassion.
He said, “The children have also been adopted by the senator, and he will take care of the children aside from the payment of their school fees.
“The day after Sanni died, the senator advised that we should raise funds for him because he has children, a mother, and a grandmother. We called on friends and associates and as of now, we have exceeded N55 million.
“This is to clear the children’s school fees from their current classes through secondary school education so that the children will not have issues with their education. We also retained their current school which is Chrisland. The Senator has instructed that all the remaining funds will be passed to the wife and the mother of the deceased.
“He also promised to put the mother on a monthly salary until God calls her home. He will also be doing the same for his wife.”
Raji-Label conveyed his hope that the perpetrators of Sanni’s murder would be apprehended and justice would be served.
“They (the killers) should not sleep; they should look behind because God will catch up with them. He is going to get them, and they are going to be prosecuted because his death was terrible. So, they have to pay. As they have done this, they should not sleep. They have murdered sleep, so they cannot sleep,” he declared.
In a separate statement by Odunaro, Adeola described his deceased aide as irreplaceable.
“It is impossible for me to find a replacement for Niyi. He is my blood and a dedicated aide for 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,” the statement read.
During the funeral service, Pastor Gbenga Odunowo of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Rhema Chapel (Young Adult and Youth Church), highlighted that the deceased had made a positive impact during his lifetime.
He spoke on the importance of celebrating the impact he had on others, even though his earthly journey had come to an end. (BusinessDay)
