Senator adopts children of aide allegedly killed by rogue soldiers in Lagos, associates raise N55m

In order to put the remains of the deceased, Adeniyi Sanni, a staff member for Senator Solomon Adeola, in memory, his family, friends, and coworkers gathered on Wednesday.

While the late senator’s assistant’s remains were on display during the church ceremony and buried at the Redeemed Camp vault, Mowe, near the Lagos-Ibadan Motorway, Sanni’s widow, children, relatives, and other sympathisers wept.

Saturday, August 5, 2023, in the wee hours saw the murder of Sanni in Lagos.

The late Sanni was asked to provide the documents for the car he was driving when he was stopped by security personnel at a checkpoint in Ojodu, Lagos, according to a statement from the senator’s media adviser, Kayode Odunaro. He did so through his wife, who sent all the documents to his phone via WhatsApp.

Soon later, according to Odunaro, the wife called his friends to report that she was unable to reach her husband on the phone, prompting the organisation of a search party.

The next-of-kin phone number on her husband’s driver’s licence was reportedly used by onlookers to reach her after his body with gunshot wounds was discovered abandoned near the Toyota Bus Stop in Oshodi, Lagos.

In a different statement on Monday, Senator Adeola claimed that his aide had been murdered by soldiers working for the recently appointed Commander of the 9 Brigade at the Nigerian Army’s Ikeja Cantonment, Brigadier General Nsikan Edet, by setting up checkpoints and robbing cars with lone occupants.

Senator Adeola’s campaign director, Babatunde Raji-Label, said that the senator had adopted the deceased’s children, Moraraoluwa, Oluwashindara, and Oluwafeyidara, in a conversation with our correspondent following the funeral service.

He continued by saying that the deceased’s friends had raised more than N55 million at the senator’s request to care for his ailing grandmother, mother, and immediate family.

He added that Adeola had chosen to provide the mother of the deceased a fixed monthly salary for the rest of her life.

In addition to taking care of them and paying their school expenses, the senator has also adopted the kids, according to Raji-Label.

The senator suggested that we raise money for Sanni the day after he passed away because he has children, a mother, and a grandmother. We made friends and business contacts, and as of right now, we have more over N55 million.

“This is to ensure that the children won’t face problems with their education by paying the children’s school expenses from their current classrooms through secondary school education. We also kept Chrisland, which is their current school. The wife and the mother of the deceased are to receive all of the remaining funds, according to the senator’s instructions.

The mother would receive a monthly payment from him until God called her home, he added. He will also extend the same courtesy to his wife.

Raji-Label expressed hope that the killers of Sanni would be found and justice would be done.

“God will catch up with them; they (the murderers) should not sleep; they should glance back. Because of how horrible his death was, he will catch them and have them tried. They must therefore pay. They shouldn’t go to sleep now that they’ve done this. They are unable to sleep because they have slain slumber, he said.

In yet another statement made public by Odunaro on Wednesday, Adeola referred to his dead assistant as irreplaceable.

“I can’t possibly find someone to take Niyi’s place. He has been a loyal assistant for about 20 years and is my blood. His senseless passing really grieves me. I had to skip his funeral as a father figure to him, per tradition,” the statement said.

The departed had an impression when they were living, according to Gbenga Odunowo, Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God’s Rhema Chapel (Young Adult and Youth Church), who spoke at the funeral service.

“Today, we are gathering to honour a life well lived in Christ. Our brother has left his mark. He has had an effect on people’s life. We should commemorate the contribution he made to life even if he has reached the finish line of the marathon, Odunowo remarked.