The chairman of Senate Committee on Appropriations and Senator representing Ogun West senatorial district, Solomon Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, has alleged that soldiers of the Nigeria Army operating checkpoints around Ikeja axis of Lagos State are responsible for the killing of his senior aide, Mr. Adeniyi Oluwatosin Sanni, in the early hours of Saturday August 5, 2023.
The Senator, who is still grieving the loss of his aide, stated that information available to him on the circumstances surrounding Sanni’s death indicated that he (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 via WhatsApp.
It was gathered that the wife called a while later and the late Mr. Sanni told her that the 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 a statement released in Abuja by the Nigerian Police Force providing an update on the investigation into the murder and armed robbery, Senator Adeola stated that he is of the firm belief—based on the information at the Police’s disposal—that his aide was killed by a group of soldiers working for the recently deployed Commander of 9 Brigade, Ikeja Cantonment of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier General Nsikan John Edet, through the mounting of checkpoints and robbing of lone occupants of cars
In the statement he personally signed, Senator Adeola, 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.
He said 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.
With similar unreported incidents in recent times around Ikeja and a pattern of killings and armed robberies against soldiers mounting late-night checkpoints around Ikeja, Senator Adeola urged the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Taoreed Lagbaja, to order the capture of the killers of his aide for further investigation, prosecution, and justice for the deceased. He added that the Nigerian Army cannot be seen to condone or harbor rogue elements.
He said that till date, the black Toyota Camry of Mr. Sanni, his phones and other valuables are yet to be recovered.
