A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former Deputy Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Chief Adeniyi Akintola, has revealed how President Bola Ahmed Tinubu once saved him from being killed at a time when his life was under threat due to his advocacy for the rights of the masses.
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Akintola made the revelation while speaking on ‘Gbagede Oselu’, a live political programme aired over the weekend on the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS).
Narrating his ordeal, the legal luminary said that during a particularly turbulent period in his life, he was targeted multiple times by unidentified individuals because of his outspoken defence of the oppressed. According to him, Tinubu was the only one who came to his aid.
Akintola said, “The masses have power, but it all depends on how they use it. Because I stood up for the rights of the masses, I couldn’t enter my house for 14 months. I was marked for elimination on five different occasions.”
He recounted how President Tinubu, then a prominent political figure, intervened discreetly to ensure his safety.
“No one came to my rescue except Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. He somehow got wind of the plot and immediately asked me to leave Ibadan and come to Lagos. He provided hotel accommodation for me, free of charge,” he revealed.
“I lived in different hotels under various names, just to stay alive. I had to go underground to avoid being assassinated. Tinubu’s timely intervention saved my life,” he said.
Akintola’s account underscores a long-standing relationship with President Tinubu and offers insight into the personal sacrifices and risks that often accompany advocacy and political activism in Nigeria.
Akintola also revealed that the Olubadan-designate, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, played a pivotal role in the June 12 pro-democracy movement and the operations of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO).
NADECO, a coalition of pro-democracy activists and politicians, was at the forefront of the agitation for the validation of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election, widely believed to have been won by the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola.
Senator Ladoja, a former governor of Oyo State and then a member of the short-lived Third Republic Senate, joined NADECO after the military junta dissolved the National Assembly.
According to Akintola, Ladoja’s business empire suffered significant losses due to his involvement in the pro-democracy struggle. He revealed that Ladoja’s ships were used to support NADECO’s covert operations during the height of the resistance.
“Senator Rashidi Ladoja played an active role in NADECO. We used his ships for NADECO’s activities after the dissolution of the Senate. There are some details I cannot disclose publicly. His businesses were seriously affected by the struggle; he had a shipping line and a palm plantation in Cross River State, which was the largest in West Africa at the time,” Akintola stated.
He lamented that many true patriots who risked their lives during the June 12 era have not received due recognition. He cited examples such as Ibadan-based human rights activist, Comrade Mashood Erubami, who was frequently imprisoned during the military clampdown on pro-democracy activists, and the late Comrade Ola Oni, a prominent socialist and political thinker.
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