‘The news of the sudden demise of Senator Bayo Osinowo has come to me as a rude shock. I am weeping uncontrollably as I speak to you’ were the words of Abdulmumuni Abiola as he expresses his deep grief to Trek Africa Newspaper.

‘How could I have imagined that someone that I regard as my big uncle would pass only this afternoon. This is a big blow to me’, described the young Abiola.

Abdulmumuni remembered fondly the great support that the late Senator offered him and his brother, Hadi. ‘Upon the killing of my mother, Kudirat Abiola, it was Sen. Bayo Osinowo that smuggled me at age 9 and my brother, Hadi out of this country to Cotonou, Benin Republic where we took a Air France flight to United States.’

‘This is how I could survive today. Only God knows what would have happened to us if we had stayed back in Nigeria.’

Abiola prayed for the repose of the late Lagos East Senator popularly called ‘Pepperito’. He said: ‘May Almighty Allah grant him Aljanna Firdaus. May God grant his family the fortitude to bear this grim loss.’

By Oki Samson