Odunayo Omobolanle Olagbaju was a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

legislator from

Osun State Osun (; ), is a state in southwestern Nigeria; bounded to the east by Ekiti and Ondo states for 84 km and for 78 km respectively, to the north by Kwara State for 73 km, to the south by Ogun State for 84 km and to the wes ...

. He was stabbed to death in December 2001 right in front of a police station in Ile Ife, Nigeria. In May 2002, eleven suspects were arraigned for the killing. In August, seven additional suspects were arrested. By the end of 2002, the original eleven had been freed on bail, but the incident remained under investigation.

Killings

Odunayo Olagbaju was bludgeoned to death in broad daylight in his Ile-ife home town, sparking riots in which at least five people were reported killed. The dead included a local Alliance for Democracy (AD) chairman. A spokesman for the Ife community, Prince Olakunle Aderemi, said that Olagbaju mentioned a commissioner in the Akande cabinet, a member of the House of Representatives and a member of the State House of Assembly as responsible for the attack before he died "at the doorstep of Nigeria Police, Moore, Ile-Ife".

Motive for killings

The killing may have been related to a quarrel between governor

Bisi Akande Chief Abdulkareem Adebisi Bamidele Akande (; born 16 January 1939) is a Nigerian politician who served as the governor of Osun State from 1999 to 2003, as a member of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) party. He was the first interim Chairman of ...

of Osun State and deputy governor Iyiola Omisore. Odunayo Olagbaju was a staunch supporter of Iyiola Omisore. The murder was followed a few days later by the killing of Bisi Akande's supporter,

Bola Ige Chief James Ajibola Idowu Ige ( ; 13 September 1930 – 23 December 2001), popularly known as Bola Ige, was a Nigerian lawyer and politician. He served as Federal Minister of Justice of Nigeria from January 2000 until his assassination in De ...

, the Justice Minister of Nigeria. After an emergency cabinet meeting, the Nigerian government deployed troops to prevent further violence. One of the suspects in the Bola Ige murder said Iyiola Omisore had become close to Olagbaju, and under-wrote a part of his campaign expenses. Sometime in 2001, Iyiola Omisore told Odunayo Olagbaju that he was crossing over to the People's Democratic Party (PDP), which would back him as candidate for the Osun State governorship. Odunayo Olagbaju and all of Omisore's supporters also crossed over. In August 2003, Chief Joseph Obadare of the PDP said that Olagbaju alerted the police about threats to his life but the police refused to come to his rescue before his assassins struck.

Conviction and release

The two convicted in connection to the killing were giving a prerogative pardon by the governor of Osun state Mr.

Rauf Aregbesola Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola (; born 25 May 1957) is a Nigerian politician who served as the Federal Ministry of Interior (Nigeria), minister of the Interior of Nigeria from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as governor of Osun State from 201 ...

, during his one-year anniversary in office.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olagbaju, Odunayo Omobolanle 2001 murders in Nigeria 2001 deaths Alliance for Democracy (Nigeria) politicians Assassinated Nigerian politicians Deaths by stabbing in Nigeria People from Osun State People murdered in Nigeria Unsolved murders in Nigeria Year of birth missing Yoruba politicians African politicians assassinated in the 2000s Politicians assassinated in 2001 Deaths by stabbing

Killings

Motive for killings

Conviction and release

See also

References