Senator Adeola Claims Aide Was Robbed and Killed by Men in Army Uniform

Senator Solomon Adeola, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations,  is of the opinion that soldiers of the Nigeria Army operating checkpoints around the Ikeja axis of Lagos State killed his senior aide, Adeniyi Oluwatosin Sanni, in the early hours of Saturday, August 5, 2023.

His opinion was contained 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 based his claim on available facts at the disposal of the Police. He stated 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.

In the statement, the senator 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 17th of August, 2023, resulting in the death of another Nigerian whose body was discovered around Iyana-Ipaja after he was taken away by soldiers from the checkpoint.

Narrating the details of the recent killing, Senator Adeola said 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 soldier’s 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 taken 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.

How Senator Adeola’s Aide was killed

The bereaved Senator earlier revealed that information available to him indicates that Sanni was stopped at a checkpoint around Ojodu- Berger Area of Lagos on his way to his home at Isheri by “security agents.” 

He noted that the security agents 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 also gathered that the wife called a while later and the late 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 the Toyota Bus Stop area of Oshodi, close to a military barrack.

He said that till date, the black Toyota Camry of Mr Sanni, his phones and other valuables are yet to be recovered.

Call for investigation and prosecution

Senator Adeola charged 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.