By Haruna Salami
The chairman of Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Solomon Adeola has stated 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.
It will be 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 Monday August 21 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.
