By Hon Femi Kehinde

“Nunc Dimittis” also known as the “Song of Simeon” is a canticle from Luke 2:29 – 32;
“Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace: according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people

“To be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of thy people Israel.”

This popular Christian canticle in the Christian Hymnal songs – songs of praise (SOP) always fascinates me whenever I hear of the loss of a departed soul as a terminal end of a race well fought. This was the lot of Dr. Victor Omololu Olunloyo who passed on some few days to his ninetieth birthday in the early hours of Sunday the 6th of April, 2025.

I had earlier on Sunday, the 30th of March 2025 reminded the Oluwo of Iwo – Oba Abdul-Rasheed Adewale Akanbi during a courtesy Eid-Kabir visit to his palace, of the need to call and felicitate with Dr. Victor Omololu Olunloyo in the early hours of 14th April, 2025 to congratulate and felicitate with him on his ninetieth birthday. He noted the date with enthusiasm, with a promise to be one of the early callers of the day. Man proposes, God disposes.

He was a rare gem, enigma and intellectual colossus. In intellectual profundity, knowledge, wisdom, learning, erudition, philosophy, etymology, science, mathematics and engineering, literature and music, he remained like an old wine – the older the stronger. He was perhaps nonpareil
He was my intellectual war horse, advisor, pathfinder, regular and amiable consults and fatherly figure. We regularly discuss history, politics, philosophy, theory of life, evolution, culture, norms, practices and traditions, biographies, experiences of life, usually far into the night, even at an advanced age. It had always been very intellectually stimulating to me. I thought this rhythm would continue till eternity. I was wrong.

He was working on a book which he had almost completed. We discussed the progress made so far on the book, and at a cost that had forced him to sell one of his cars to fund the project, which he did joyfully and happily. He had suffered stroke and several ailments that comes with old age. He was infirm physically and on the wheel chair, but he remained medically firm in mental faculty with an amazing sense of memory and an untireless fecundity. He was my icon of knowledge and a great historical archive. He practically knew everything and everybody.

On Saturday, the 5th of April, 2025 at about 12:11pm, my telephone rang, and I picked it. It was his number, but quite unusually, it was a female voice that immediately spoke with me, and asked me to please hold the line for Dr. Omololu Olunloyo, I obliged enthusiastically. Our conversation goes thus;
Femi How’re you… I’m fine sir (I responded)
I am back in the hospital again, and I’ve had an infection that Augmentin could perhaps not cure. They gave me a drug which I repudiated, they now want to place me on another high potent antibiotics that they said was about N68,000. I have as usual incurred medical bills, but they are now trying to place me on a blood transfusion.
Perhaps a doctor came in, and he yanked off the phone from him, and the conversation ended. It later ended up to be a nunc dimittis call – Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace…. It was a call from the Departure Hall, with a boarding pass already secured.

Barely twelve hours after our hospital bed conversation, he gave up the ghost, only to join the saints triumphants at about 1:45am on Sunday morning. I received an early morning call from a friend and a brother who broke the news of his passage to me. I was aghast and downcast, because I had reported this our conversation of the previous day to this same friend and brother on Saturday evening, and we both agreed to see him immediately after discharge from the hospital. Life is a borrowed garment.

Sometime in August 2022, he suffered a massive stroke, rushed to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, and was rumored dead, but like a cat with nine lives, he survived. I visited him in the hospital, while ailing and recuperating. I turned the opportunity of the visit to have an informal talk shop and interview with him, which for its freshness I would now want to reproduce, as a final befitting tribute to a man of knowledge.

The piece was titled: Down Memory Lane with Dr. Victor Omololu Olunloyo, a Voyage into History. Published by The Boss Newspaper of September 6, 2022 and the Premium Times of September 8, 2022.

Here is the piece:

“Down Memory Lane with Dr. Victor Omololu Olunloyo: A Voyage into History
Society nourishes its history through the oral testimony of those who have impacted its growth and development or were lucky to be at the theatre of its story. In a clime, where we celebrate the dead at the expense of the living, it is desirable to celebrate the living, who have impacted our lives and essence. In the Nigerian firmament, Victor Omololu Showemimo Olunloyo is certainly one. History is baked and garnished by their tales.

A few weeks ago, 87year old Victor Omololu Olunloyo, suffered massive stroke, which may be infirmity, occasioned by old age. Like a cat with nine lives, Olunloyo regained consciousness after a few days in the Intensive Care Unit at the University College Hospital, Ibadan. The University College Hospital, being the first of its kind in Africa, was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II, in 1956.

According to Omololu Olunloyo, “I regained my faculty after a massive stroke”
He was later transferred to an elite private suite, also under intensive medi-care and observation, in the hospital.

It was in this private suite, that I visited him on a Saturday evening, still on the hospital bed, but not lying critically ill. He was still his buoyant and exuberant self, full of intellect, learning, knowledge, wisdom and erudition.

I had an informal talking session with him. The words coming from his mouth, encouraged me to go on this informal talking session, though mildly and gently, with occasional interjections by Yomi Olunloyo, a nephew, also visiting the recuperating former governor of Oyo State.
Our informal talk shop, started with the Awolowo / Shagari case. This was a law suit between Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Alhaji Shehu Shagari, in which Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Petition, challenged the declaration of Shehu Shagari as the President elect of Nigeria, on the 11th of August, 1979.

The law suit- SC 162/1979, was decided on the 26th of September, 1979. The Justices at the Supreme Court were Atanda Fatai Williams CJN, Mohamed Bello JSC, Kayode Esho JSC, Mohamed Uwais JSC, Andrew Otutu Obaseki JSC, Ayo Gabriel Irikefe JSC, Chike Idigbe JSC.

The gravamen of the election petition of Chief Awolowo, was that the election declaration did not conform with Section 34A (1) (c) of the Electoral Law, i.e winning a quarter of the votes in 2/3 of all the states in the Federation.

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Tribunal and dismissed Awolowo’s appeal. The only dissenting Judge, was Kayode Esho (JSC), who affirmed that there could be no 12 two third states, but 13- in other words, there was no fractional states, but whole states and two thirds of 19 states being exact 12 2/3 or 12.667, should be rounded up to 13 states. There was obviously a legal and mathematical log jam. At the time, there were only 19 states in Nigeria. The bone of contention was what was 2/3 of 19 states. Awolowo won, clearly in 6 states, Shagari in 12 states and his legal pundits led by Chief Richard Akinjide SAN, said Shagari won the election, by winning 12 two third states, claiming Kano to be the 2/3 state. Chief G.O.K Ajayi SAN represented Obafemi Awolowo and his Party- Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).

To solve this mathematical log jam, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Simon Adebo, Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo consulted two egg heads- Professor Ayodele Awojobi and Dr. Victor Omololu Olunloyo.

According to Olunloyo, “I told the committee set up, that the problem was a mathematical problem and not engineering. Awojobi was a mechanical engineer, whilst I hold a PH.D, both in Engineering and mathematics” (The former Governor of Oyo state, attained these Doctorate Honours in 1961, at the age of 26 years and perhaps, the first Ibadan indigene to attain this feat).

“It was a mathematical problem, and I got to the heart of it. Awolowo had insisted that 12 2/3 was not rational, sensible or reasonable.

I told them of the principle of non-interchangeability, i.e. you cannot interchange states, Akinjide did. When I did the calculations, I found that even if you said it was 12 2/3, Shagari did not make that figure. It was either 12 2/3 or 13. Before you could be President, the law said you should win in at least 2/3 of the total 19 states we had in Nigeria then.

Shagari won in 12. Kano state was the bone of contention. The 2/3 of Kano state had meaning, only in terms of the governorship election in Kano state.”

Omololu Olunloyo, now fully engrossed in this informal talk shop, asked a lady Nurse, to come back for check up, because according to him, “I am in the middle of a lecture”

He was at this moment, imaginarily, drawing on the wall, beside his bed, with mathematical interjections and self assurance. He further enthused-

“Shagari did not score two thirds, two thirds (of twenty local governments). In decimal is something like 13.3, instead, he scored 12 point something. How I discovered it is that I asked my brother- Segun, he lent me his computer and I ran a programme.
Now drawing again on an imaginary graph, using the imaginary board on his bedside, he said;

“Of the 20 local government in Kano, you find out which one Shehu Shagari scored the highest. It happened to be Kano Municipality: 50.1%. Next was Dambatta, 48.2, next and next. If you went through the whole list, it ended with something like 12 point something. The whole state didn’t reach 25 per cent for him. Isn’t it an easy calculation? It starts at the high level of 50.1 at Kano Municipality and Bichi and like that, down the line. Then drew a line at where he scored up to two thirds. As you come down in descending order, you’ll see that if he got two-thirds of Kano State, it would show easily. The cut off point in the calculation should be 13, but when we got to 13, there was already a disaster. The two-thirds of 20 is 13 1/3 but he had fallen below that. He ended up with 12 point something…”
Now moving away from mathematical gymnastics, I was a little bit relieved to move into soft issues.

I asked him about his relationship with Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

He said: “Perfect!, Awolowo was my political idol and my father- Horatio’s good friend and lawyer. He comes to my father’s house regularly and share drinks.” Awolowo, my father and M.S Showole, then, drank Gin together. S.L Akintola and Samuel Shonibare drinks Whisky. Shortly thereafter, Awolowo left this drinking club and never to go back to it again. He promised M.S Showole, but left them to their revelries. He said it was undemocratic for him to stop anybody from enjoying his fancies, but, nonetheless, will still serve wine and alcohol to his guests
At a later time, when I then became involved in several endeavours, I visited Chief Obafemi Awolowo in his Oke Bola Ibadan house and we had lunch together. We had Amala, Ewedu with beef together and I was surprised, and I asked him;
“But they said you don’t eat meat?”

He laughed and said, “Omololu, that was media creation, I eat beef, you cannot live in Ibadan, without eating Amala. (Awolowo moved to Ibadan in January, 1927, when he was admitted to Wesley College, Elekuro, Ibadan.”)

Olunloyo still talking –

“From my early days, I was very close to S.L Akintola and Chief Awolowo. Awolowo was a statesman, technocrat and administrator per excellence, he was not a politician; but Akintola was a politician. He was witty, scholarly, humorous, with a sonorous voice.

He was fond of me and calls me Professor. Unofficially, I attended some of their meetings – the Action Group Executive Council Meeting as a repertoire and observer.”

I then asked him, why did he, despite being a mathematician, developed interest in law and politics?

Still on the hospital bed, he heaved a sigh, and he smiled.

I told you Awolowo was my father’s friend and lawyer, I watched a court session at the Western Nigerian Court of Appeal, at the Parliament building, Secretariat, Ibadan, where Awolowo and Rotimi Williams were opposing counsels. I was impressed with their legal learning and erudition. Justice Charles Madarikan was the Presiding Judge. He later retired as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

The court adjourned briefly for a short recess and asked the counsels to address the court on the principles of void and voidable and stare Decisis.

“I was excited. But I had made up my mind to become an engineer and mathematician.” I cut in, to tell him, that in the Memudu Lagunju case, where Obafemi Awolowo was Counsel for Oba Adetoyese Laoye, the Timi of Ede, he was described by the court as a “terrible cross examiner” and he agreed with that description.

Then dinner came, acknowledging the presence of the kitchen staff and her culinary expertise. He was pleased with the smell of the Edikainkong, but pleaded with the young lady to keep the food and allow him to finish up with the lecture. He was actually getting excited and absorbed. He then said;

“I like the legal Profession. The sight of a well dressed lawyer, excites me. I am well aware of the principles of the Mac Foy and UAC case, delivered by Lord Denning in 1961 and the Ratio Decedendi of the High trees case. I know Actus Reus and Mens Rea in Criminal Law.

I am an avid reader of law books and publications. So many years ago, I went to Ile Ife to deliver a Public Lecture. After the lecture, I went to the office of this Owo man- Professor David Ijalaye, who was then Dean of the Law Faculty and Professor of International Law. I asked him to give me a list of all the books I needed to read, from part one to part four, to become a lawyer. He laughed. I told him I was serious. He gave me a list of 38 books, which includes law of contracts, torts, Nigerian Legal System, Land law, Criminal Law, Evidence Law, Equity, Jurisprudence and so many others.

When I got to Ibadan, I went to Odusote Bookshop to look for the books. In Ibadan, I got 36 of the books and the bookshop ordered for 2 of the remaining books from their Lagos office.

I read all of them and I became greatly knowledgeable in law. All the books are still in my library. I went back to Professor Ijalaye to tell him I am now a lawyer, even though in Equity.”

Down memory lane again, he said, “I have read all the books of Lord Denning- Master of the Rolls, most especially, his last book- “What next in the law?”

“Lord Denning, like me had a first class Degree in Mathematics, in the University, after which he studied law and little wonder his judgments had mathematical touch. I have read all the law books of Justice Oputa and the Acts of Advocacy by Justice Aniagolu and also the Supreme Court judgment of the Nasiru Bello’s Case, where a murder convict, before his appeal was heard at the Supreme Court, was executed by hanging. This injustice was described by the Supreme Court as executive lawlessness.”

I also asked the great mathematician about his knowledge, of the Bode Thomas and Alaafin Adeniran Adeyemi’s imbroglio, in November, 1953. To whet his appetite, I said-

As a result of the Macpherson Constitution of 1952, which now gave immense powers to political elites as against traditional institutions, the powers of traditional institutions, as regards the political control of their domains ceased. Chief Bode Thomas now became the first Chairman of the Oyo Divisional council in 1953, while the Alaafin of Oyo then became a mere member. On Chief Bode Thomas’ first appearance in council, after being appointed as Chairman, all the council members stood up for him in deference to welcome him, except Oba Adeniran Adeyemi II, who for cultural reasons, could not show deference to anyone in public.

Bode Thomas rudely shouted at the king, for having the temerity and audacity to disrespect him – “why were you sitting when I walked in, you don’t know how to show respect.” At that time, Bode Thomas was 35 years old and Oba Adeniran Adeyemi was in his 80s. The Alaafin felt very insulted and said “se emi lon gbomo baun?” (is it me you are barking at like that?) Oba Adeniran Adeyemi II, for emphasis, was father to the late Alaafin, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III.

Now, Omololu added his own version.
He said:

“On the 22nd of November, 1953, Bode Thomas, arrived Oyo in the morning, went to the Palace of Alaafin. On his way out of the Palace for the council meeting, the Palace drummers, began to drum an alert drum in sweet rendition – Olori buruku ti kuro laafin. (the evil man has left the palace)

He left the Palace of the Alaafin in his private car and drove straight to the Alapinni’s house (one of the seven Oyo Mesi). In Alapinni’s house, he was offered “Wara”- (Condensed Yoghurt), and from there, drove to the Atiba Hall, for the council meeting.

The driver dropped him at the council meeting, unfortunately, the private car and the driver were never seen, till today.
When the “Ma gbo lo ba un” (continue to bark like that) incidence happened that day, there was no car or driver to take him back to Lagos.

The council arranged for him a vehicle to take him back to Lagos for urgent medical attention, after he had started to behave strangely. He was taken to a local herbalist in Ijebu-Igbo, who attempted to restore his health. He was unfortunately traced to Ijebu Igbo by some people in Oyo and this aggravated his health situation. He died on the 23rd of November, 1953.”

His mother and his wife had called Dr. Majekodumi, his private medical doctor… I quipped in – “But Majekodumi in his auto biography said Bode died of mental delirium.”

Olunloyo, who later became Majekodumi’s Economic Development commissioner in 1962, responded- “Ko ko de le tan ni o”- (he had not said it all)

Down memory lane again, Olunloyo recalled his memorable moment with Samuel Ladoke Akintola, whom Awolowo had once described in 1953, in their good days as “an able lawyer with a brazing and afiable character, who cannot be ruffled easily, if at all.

“His potential gift consists of his capacity to argue two opposing points of view with equal competence and plausibility. This quality, backed by a sense of humour and his capacity for nuances, made him a puzzle to opponents.”

According to Olunloyo, one day, Premier Ladoke Akintola was on a campaign trail, to a town called Ale, close to Badagry. He had asked his advance team to visit Ale for reconnaisance. The report was favourable and the Premier embarked on the journey to Ale. In the car, with Duro Ogundiran, a Minister in his government and also a lawyer, he asked Duro –

“How do we address the people of Ale?, do we greet them as “Omo Ale” (child of a bastard or a child born out of wedlock), he told Duro Ogundiran that the people of Ale will not like that.”

When he got to Ale and the people of Ale trooped out to welcome the visiting Premier, he was excited. At the campaign rally, he greeted them. He said- “E ku ile o, eyin omo ilu Ale!” (I greet you, sons and daughters of Ale town.) The crowd, went into frenetic ecstasy. He cleverly wriggled out, from calling Ale people bastards. That was S.L.A Akintola for you. After the campaign rally, he asked Gbeleyi, his private purse and confidant too, to give the people of Ale, some money, to express his appreciation- “Gbeleyi, o yo a seto fun won”

When S.L.A. went to an Ekiti town to campaign, he met a quiet and desolate town and he quickly asked- where are the able bodied men of this town? rhetorically, he answered the question himself- “won ti lo se G.C.E” nio!”- that is, they have all gone to write G.C.E exams, (Ekiti people loves books)
At the departure lounge of the Muritala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, Dr. Olunloyo, his wife and his son on a wheel chair, were waiting to board the aircraft to London.
M.K.O Abiola, the good natured man and philanthropist, saw the boy on the wheel chair and he quickly asked- E jo wo o, tani o ni omo yi (please, who are the parents of this child?) Olunloyo answered- He is my son, on a trip to London, for medical attention. M.K.O quickly recognised Olunloyo, his party man and former governor of Oyo State. He said “Egbon, sorry o, so he is your son?” He quickly tore off, the front edge of the newspaper with him and wrote – Please pay Dr. Omololu Olunloyo, with Nigerian international passport number, the sum of £20, 000, and gave it to Omololu, and wished them a safe trip to the United Kingdom. He nonetheless told Olunloyo, that he had 41 signatures.

Olunloyo, his son and his wife, boarded the aircraft and he deliberated with his wife, what will become of him, if he presents this sheet of torn newspaper, to the named manager of Barclays bank in London. For two days, Olunloyo could not summon the courage to present the piece of torn newspaper, to the said Barclays bank. After two days of prevarications and reflections, he summoned the courage and straight, he went to the bank. He presented the sheet of paper, the lady cashier called him, asked for his international passport and also asked him the particular denomination of currency he would prefer.

The joyous Omololu, answered the cashier excitedly- “any denomination, but preferably Ten Pounds Notes.” He was quickly handed over, the sum of freshly mint, £20, 000, in Ten Pounds denominations. He said, “That was M.K.O Abiola for you and may his soul continue to rest in peace.

“When he was contesting election as President of Nigeria, I told M.K.O that I dreamt of a mandate that disappeared.”

In circumlocution, we went back to Awolowo again –

“Awolowo was like my father, because he was my father’s good friend, and I know he was a man that came before his time. People of his sterner stuff, are very rare to find, he was a first class administrator and statesman. I told him, he could not win the Presidential election, because he was too honest… I told him at least if he won the election, as his son, I will be a beneficiary of his government.

“I was fond of my grandfather, the Rev. Olunloyo, who was then Vicar of the Saint Paul’s, Anglican Church, Gbongan, now in Osun State.

“He was to the Gbongan community then, a priest, teacher, scholar, statesman and pathfinder. He was involved in almost every sphere of the Gbongan life. I moved to Gbongan to complete my Primary School education and in 1947 in standard 5, I sat for a common entrance examination to the Government College Ibadan. Out of about 2,000 students who sat for the examination, I was among the first ten, who excelled in the common entrance examination, to commence secondary education at the Government College Apata, Ibadan, in January 1948, on scholarship. I did not read standard 6.

“It was in Gbongan in 1949, that I met Chief Afe Babalola, now Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who was then a pupil teacher at the Saint Paul’s Anglican Primary School, Gbongan, that I attended. He was always very logical in his arguments with me, and was also fluent in English language. I told my grandfather, the Rev Olunloyo of my discovery of a class room teacher, who should be encouraged to pursue greener pastures. My grandfather encouraged his movement to Ibadan, from where he started another journey of life, by reading for his O levels and A levels and later pursued a degree through correspondence college in Economics and eventually, became a lawyer.”

“My father, Horatio Vincent Victor Sowemimo Olunloyo, was Administrator of Mapo Council, between 1944 and 1948. He was a scholar, statesman, organist of Saint David’s Anglican Church Kudeti, Ibadan, and an Ibadan Aristocrat of Owu Ancestry.

As the Administrator of Mapo Council, he was in charge of the Agodi Prisons, Adeoyo Hospital, Eleiyele Water works, and the Controller of Mapo Taxes, which went as far as Iwo, Ede, Osogbo then. In fact, the late Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Samuel Abimbola, was a tax officer under my father, in charge of Iwo taxes. Horatio built his house in Molete, Ibadan, moved into his house on the 28th of December, 1948 and died the following day on the 29th of December, 1948, at the age of 42 years.

At the funeral sermon, Ven. Samuel Adigun, the Vicar of the Saint David’s Anglican Church Kudeti, Ibadan, where Horatio served as the church Organist said:
“Horatio, I advised you not to work in Mapo, that they will kill you and now, they have killed you. Interestingly, those who killed you are on the front row in this church at this funeral service.”

People on the front row were looking at each other. Horatio was poisoned”.
I was a form one student at the Government College, Ibadan, when he died.”

In 1983, I ran election for the office of Governor of Oyo State. I needed money for the campaigns, Alhaji Arisekola Alao and Alhaja Aminatu Abiodun, the late Iyalode of Ibadan, majorly funded the campaigns.

I used my Owu ancestry and went to Olusegun Obasanjo to ask him about some strategies and tactics. Like the astute man he is always, he said he had no money, but he gave me some strategies and tactics. I pulled out his drawer and found dollars and pounds sterling in his Ota farm. I said “my brother, you said you have no money, but this is money. He said no, no. This one belongs to the chicken.”- (Owo Awon Adie)
After this brain tasking exercise, spanning about two hours, the man of knowledge was still ready to go on, but a doctor and a nurse, had just come in to ask us to close the session.

On a parting note, he bade us farewell and I promised him that this session will continue as soon as he his back in Molete in good and sound health. He has since been discharged from the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan and now recuperating.

Victor Omololu Sowemimo Olunloyo was born in Ibadan on 14 April 1935. His father, Horatio Olunloyo was Christian and his late mother Alhaja Bintu Tejumola Abebi Olunloyo who died October 2013 at 102-year-old was Muslim.

Olunloyo gained a Ph.D. from St. Andrews University in 1961. His thesis was on the Numerical Determination of the Solutions of Eigenvalue Problems of the Sturm–Liouville Type. He published several other papers on number theory and applied mathematics.
Olunloyo was appointed Commissioner for Economic Development for the Western Region in 1962 at the age of 27, in the cabinet of Dr. Moses Majekodunmi. He was re-appointed when Colonel Adeyinka Adebayo was appointed military governor of Western State. Other positions included Commissioner for Community Development, Education (twice), Special Duties, Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs which includes crowning of two of Nigeria’s monarchs namely the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III and the Soun of Ogbomosho – Oba Jimoh Oyewunmi. He was appointed Chairman of the Western Nigerian Development Corporation- the precursor of the present Odua Group of Companies.

Victor Omololu Olunloyo; may you continue to enjoy further long life in good health and prosperity. May your spectacular knowledge, be continually useful and relevant to the society and mankind.”

Our several intellectual escapades and discuss in the last three years, would certainly form the subject of another piece on Omololu Olunloyo as a memorabilia to history, learning and knowledge.
Victor Omololu Sowemimo Olunloyo, omo olowu oduru

May your Soul continue to find peaceful repose with the Almighty Lord.

Hon. (Barr.) Femi Kehinde is a Legal Practitioner and Former Member of the House of Representatives Representing Ayedire/Iwo/Ola-Oluwa Federal Constituency of Osun State (1999-2003).

In an effort to help address the deep rot and heightened state of drugs and substance abuse in Delta State, Silec initiatives, a pragmatic non profit organisation has expressed her readiness to combat this enemy of young people in partnership with the Delta Students Leaders Community to lend their voices together in tackling in this menace.

The founder/president SILEC Initiatives, Amb. (Comr.) Sunny Irakpo, a renowned Anti-drug Advocate, also United States Government Sponsored Exchange Alumni of International Visitors Leadership Exchange program in combating drug addiction and the opioid crisis, Department of State, in his statement in Lagos reinterated that the issue of drugs and substance abuse amongst youths is getting out of hand and the need to constantly put the message out there on the dangers of the illicit drugs intake ,with obvious consequences should also go hand in hand.

Irakpo emphasizes that the thrust for bringing Stakeholders Engagement Save Our Youth Save The Economy Campaign with U.S Mission Nigeria (American Corner Lekki) as partners is for vision continuity to address social related issues in the country as this is exclusively for Delta State based on his love for his dear state as a proud son of the soil and youth so the energetic population can be more productive to themseves ,family and the state-society, and that after carrying out baseline assessment in crimes and social vices in delta state with findings of how drug addiction is taking toe in every aspect of life of citizens of the state, necessitiated the urgent need to gather key stakeholders of the state in this present administration to revisit the issue by providing a workable solution ,unconventional approach, and template to help implementation.

SILEC who took a more proactive step to engage the leadership of the Delta Students Leaders Community to seek their whole support regarding the fight against social vices such as drug abuse which affects virtually every family in Nigeria particular in Delta state, noted that the role of the comrades community in our society cannot be overemphasized.

In a robust enagagement with the President Delta Students Leaders Community Comrade (Pastor) Akpotoboro Oghenemaro ,he lamented over the growing Challenge of drugs and Substance abuse among youths in Delta state and how this ugly situation is claiming the lives of promising youths especially in state ,and that we need to act fast to save these young generation, preserve our heritage so our state will not experience workforce deficiency and lose of brains and vibrant population to this canker worm that jeopardizes growth and development.

The President of the Delta Past Students Leaders Community Comr Pastor Akpotoboro on behalf of the Executive Council, BOT and Esteemed members of the Association appreciated the efforts of Silec Initiatives for enagaging in this very difficult but life saving and transforming initiative for almost two decades. Commending the SILEC Boss Sunny Irakpo for his doggedness ,passion and resilience and that, the comrade community where he is a member is glad to forge this partnership in order to amplify our voices with seeable results.

This second edition brings key stakeholders like The Executive Governor of Delta State, His Excellency Rt. Hon. (Elder) Sheriff Oborevwori as Keynote Speaker, Hon.(Barr.) Ifechukwukwu Bridget Anyafulu, High Chief (Engr.) Kestin Pondi as Guest Speakers. Others include Hon. (Chief) Ferguson Onwo,Comrade Akpotoboro Oghenemaro and an Ace broadcaster, event moderator and on air personality Cordelia Okpei are all set for the American Corner Stakeholders Engagement Save Our Youth, Save the Economy Campaign program.

SILEC strongly calls on the youth to be high in spirit to pursue their dreams not on drugs and participants are enjoined to register for this strictly by registration for participation event that will take palce on the 15th May, 2025, 11:00am – 2:00pm.

This is the other side of the story of Elijah Oyebode, a taxi driver who operates on the Ikirun/Akure route. On the night of December 22, 2016, he picked up a young woman named Rofiat Damilola Adebisi, a 400-level student at Osun State University, who was stranded in Ikirun and needed a ride to Oshogbo. Tragically, he was sentenced to death on April 2, 2020, alongside a customer who had chartered him on December 28, 2016 just because his name was stored on the phone of the Taxi driver. Both men now languish in prison, crying out for justice and proclaiming their innocence. They have appealed the judgment, but their appeal has not been heard since 2020.

Like Bartimaeus in the Bible, who cried out for mercy, we cannot ignore their pleas. When someone persistently claims innocence, it is crucial to listen to their story. This is the mission of the Centre for Justice, Mercy, and Reconciliation (CJMR); to shed light on the truth hidden in the shadows of injustice.

In most cases, it’s not just their stories that matter, but the truth hidden in the causes of our investigation that truly matters.

Today, we present the untold story of a taxi driver for your consideration. This account aims to highlight the reality of injustice and to call attention to the urgent need for intervention from the government and the public. We invite anyone with contrary or useful information to come forward and challenge the narrative that has led to this wrongful conviction.

We have obtained the court records for review and evaluation, and we find no reason why they should remain imprisoned for another 24 hours.

My name is Elijah Oyebode, and I am a taxi driver from Iragbiji, Osun State. I drive a car that belongs to my employer, Mr. Omotayo, who is a mechanic. On December 28, 2016, Mr. Omotayo introduced me to a man named Jelili Raji, who chartered my car that day to the Eleweran police station in Abeokuta.

On the night of December 22, 2016, at about 9 pm. I picked up a female passenger at the junction of Ipetu Jesha, who was traveling to Oshogbo. I informed her that I would be stopping in Ikirun. I had three passengers in total: one in the front seat and two in the back. We left Akure around 8 PM and arrived in Ikirun around 11 PM.

After all the passengers alighted, the lady moved to the front seat. I attempted to help her find another vehicle heading to Oshogbo from Ilorin, but after nearly an hour of waiting without success, she asked if she could stay at my place until the following morning. I jokingly responded, “What would I tell my wife?” even though I am a bachelor. She assured me that she would explain to my wife.

We then drove to my one-bedroom apartment in Iragbiji. When we arrived, it was late, and everyone else in the building had already gone to bed. My apartment is upstairs, and the bathroom is located downstairs in the backyard. I went downstairs to take a bath, and when I returned to my room, I found the lady lifeless on my bed. I was in shock and panic; it felt surreal. Unsure of what to do, I decided to move her body to the roadside, carrying her alone in my car and leaving her with her belongings.

The following day, while washing my car, I discovered her phone had been left behind. I gave the phone to my friend Yusuf Ajibade, who later sold it to someone else.

Arrest and Investigation

On January 8, 2017, I was arrested by the police after they traced the deceased’s phone to Yusuf Ajibade, who led the police to my location. During my arrest, the Department of State Services (DSS) examined my phone and scrutinized all my contacts, including those I had called since December 22. Many of these individuals were released after paying bribes, except for Jelili Raji and Yusuf Ajibade.

The police also arrested several men who were listed as contacts in the deceased’s phone, demanding money from them as well.

The police fabricated details about the incident, claiming that I and Yusuf Ajibade, the second accused, had engaged in sexual intercourse with the lady using charms, which led to her death. They suggested that Jelili Raji had given me the charm because I had stored his name in my phone as “Ifa,” a shortened version of his name, Ifashola. This led the police to develop a theory of ritual killing involving sexual intercourse, which contradicted the medical report.

I want to clarify that I did not have any sexual contact with the lady, nor did I even recognize her well since she sat in the back of my car during the ride. A medical report would have confirmed the truth if it were accurate that I had sexual relations with her.

It is possible that the lady may have died in my car on the way to Oshogbo, but it was less than 30 or 40 minutes after we arrived at my apartment that she passed away. Unfortunately, the police twisted the narrative against me, and on April 2, 2020, the judge sentenced both me and Jelili Raji to death, while Yusuf Ajibade received a two-year sentence as the second accused in this case.

I am sharing this account to present the truth of what happened. I swear by the Almighty God, I did not kill the lady; she died of natural causes.

Contrary to this story, here is the police’s twisted version of events.

The Evidence of PW1:
According to PW1, Sgt. Adeyeye Simon, attached to the Homicide Section of the State CID, Oshogbo, who testified and was sworn in by the Holy Bible on March 23, 2019: “I can see the three accused. I know the three of them. With respect to the case of murder involving one Damilola Rofiyat Adebisi, a student of Osun State University, Ipetu Ijesha campus, on December 22 and 23, 2016, I know the accused. The three accused were arrested and referred for investigation, in which I recorded the statement of the first accused in Yoruba language. It was later translated into English. The first accused stated that he is a commercial driver plying the Ikirun/Owena/Akure road. He traveled on that fateful day with passengers on board. When he got to Owena, he received a phone call from the second accused, asking him to meet him at a particular junction at Ipetu Ijesha. When he got to that junction, the second accused was there with a lady. The second accused called him aside and asked him to take him and the lady to Iragbiji, instructing him not to carry any passengers with them. As he was driving, the second accused and the lady were discussing in the back of the vehicle. They also ordered him not to move fast but to move slowly while heading to Iragbiji. He took the lady to the house of the first accused, where they had sexual intercourse. Thereafter, the second accused came outside to meet the first accused and asked whether he also had an interest in having sexual intercourse with the lady, which he also agreed to. The first accused then entered the room and had sexual intercourse with the lady. Afterward, he took the second accused and the lady to the house of the third accused, based on the instruction of the third accused. When they got there, they paid him and asked him to go. The first accused asked about the luggage of the lady in the boot of the vehicle, but the second accused asked the first accused to go away with it. It was late in the evening while enjoying himself at a hotel when he received another phone call from the second accused, directing him to meet him at the house of the third accused. It was there he was informed that the girl he brought there together with the two accused had died. He was instructed to keep it a secret and that they would use his vehicle to dispose of the body of the deceased in the bush, and he accepted. When they entered the room of the third accused, where he used to attend to clients, he being an herbalist, he saw that there were injuries from biting on the fingers of the lady and some marks of injury on the thigh of the lady.

Both the third accused and the second accused went with him, and together they dropped the body of the deceased in the bush along Egbeda Road, Iragbiji. Out of the items left behind in the car by the lady, the first accused only took a DVD and threw away the rest of the items into the bush at Oke Agunla area, Iragbiji. Thereafter, they returned to the house of the third accused, and the third accused then paid for his services.

**Here is the evidence of PW3, another police officer contradicting the evidence of PW1.**

**What was the evidence of PW3?**
PW3: Elects to affirm: I am Olatomiwa Alade, DSP. I work with the Department of State Services, Osun State Command. I know the three accused in the dock. On December 26, 2016, a report was lodged at the Command headquarters of the DSS, Osun State, that a student of Osun State University, Ipetu Ijesha campus, Rofiyat Damilola Adebisi, had been missing since December 22, 2016. Subsequently, the Command constituted a five-member investigation team, of which I am a member. My involvement was based on my training as a communication intelligence expert in Tel Aviv, Israel, and my role in the Investigation Department.

During the report, it was mentioned that the lady went incommunicado after leaving the university campus. This led the Command to request the call data records of the missing person’s phone. Upon receipt of the data, I analyzed it, and an iPhone was traced to one Kolapo Quadri, a resident of Ikirun town. Kolapo Quadri was invited to the Command to explain how he came into possession of the phone. He mentioned that one of his friends, Yusuff Ajibade, sold the phone to him. Yusuff Ajibade is one of the accused persons. Yusuff Ajibade was arrested by the operatives of the Command on January 8, 2017, and he volunteered a statement that the phone was acquired through Elijah Oyebode, the first accused person. Elijah Oyebode stated in writing that the white iPhone actually belonged to the deceased, Damilola Rofiyat Adebisi. Furthermore, Elijah Oyebode also stated that he took Rofiyat Adebisi to his house after attempting to entice her romantically. He claimed that he and Rofiyat Adebisi had intercourse, after which she passed away while he went to the bathroom. However, in an earlier statement, Elijah Oyebode claimed that after he picked Rofiyat up as a passenger along the Ipetu Ijesha highway, he hypnotized her with a fetish material, causing her to lose touch with her surroundings. He then led her in an unconscious state to one Jelili Raji, also known as Ifa, for ritual purposes. That was our information.

**COMMENTS:** The question that needs to be answered is: Did the deceased die in Jelili Raji’s house? Being an herbalist, was any part of the body removed from the deceased? We need to consult the medical report. The evidence of PW3, the DSS officer, appears to be more reliable than that of the police officers, PW1 and PW2. The evidence from the DSS officer shows that Yusuff Ajibade was never aware of Rofiat’s death; he did not know her. It was established that Elijah Oyebode only gave the second accused the phone to sell. This indicates that the statements of the police officers, PW1 and PW2, are fictional, based on imagination, and malicious. Such evidence, in my humble opinion, should not keep a man in the gallows for even 24 hours.

**Here is the evidence of the medical report.**

**PW5:** I now remember the incident very well. It was on December 27 when I was called to perform an autopsy on a lady. She was brought to the hospital by her relatives. I examined the corpse and found a young lady who was dead, well-fed, not pale or jaundiced (anicteric), and well-hydrated. There were bruises on the right thigh and the right part of the neck. I also examined her internal organs, and all were found to be normal. From the examination, we discovered that the lady suffered from strangulation, which led to an obstruction of blood flow to the brain, resulting in cardiac arrest.

**COMMENT:** It is significant to observe that the medical doctor who examined the body in detail did not indicate that any part of the body or organ of the deceased had been removed or tampered with, as would be expected in cases involving an herbalist. The absence of a clear motive supports this point. Additionally, the medical report did not indicate that any semen was found on her body during the autopsy. The report states that the lady suffered from strangulation and cardiac arrest—who strangled her, and for what purpose?

Upon re-examining this medical report, I have doubts. The DSS report indicates that the lady died in the room of the taxi driver on the night of December 22/23, yet this doctor stated, “I examined the corpse. I found a young lady who was dead, well-fed, not pale or jaundiced, and well-hydrated.” Is it possible for a dead body brought to the hospital to still maintain the condition of being “well-hydrated after 5 days”?

The report mentions, “There were bruises on the right thigh and the right part of the neck.” Who inflicted those bruises? Was it the third accused or the first accused? What is the link between the actions of the first and third accused and the deceased? What must be established is the connection between the first accused (or his actions) and the death of the deceased. In the absence of clear and unequivocal evidence that (1) the deceased died directly from an assault by the accused, or (2) that the accused was armed with any sharp instrument during the assault, it becomes necessary to have medical evidence on the cause of death to address the issue raised by the existence of “a long deep cut” on the deceased’s right thigh and a cut on the neck. Until these issues are resolved, we firmly believe that it would be very unsafe to convict for murder based solely on the circumstantial evidence available. The Romans had a maxim: it is better for a guilty person to go unpunished than for an innocent one to be condemned.

An evaluation of the evidence from PW1, PW2, PW3, PW4, and PW5 shows that there were no direct eyewitnesses to the death of the deceased. No charm was recovered from the third accused, Jelili Raji, and presented before the court as evidence related to the cause of death. The medical report did not indicate that the deceased died as a result of sexual intercourse with the first accused, Elijah Oyebode. All the evidence provided by PW1, PW2, PW3, PW4, and PW5 appears to be a figment of imagination.

When you hear about the injustice done against someone, what concrete steps do you take to address the injustice?

When confronted with stories of injustice, it is crucial to listen, investigate, and advocate for those who may not have a voice. The pursuit of truth and justice should be a collective responsibility, and this case serves as a poignant example of the need for vigilance in the face of potential miscarriages of justice.

We tell the story with integrity. We carry out thorough investigations to ensure that justice is served.