Gunmen kill Hamzat, Fashola’s ex-aide in Sagamu

UNIDENTIFIED gunmen on Sunday night killed former chairman of Ikeja Local Government Area of Lagos state, Mr Toyin Hamzat, in Sagamu area of Ogun State.
Hamzat, who was a former Special Adviser on Health to Governor Babatunde Fashola, was said to have been killed at his girlfriend’s house in Sagamu, few hours after he attended a social function at the Alake’s palace in Abeokuta.
Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Muyiwa Adejobi, said the incident was a “clear case of murder.”
Adejobi, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), told newsmen that five suspects had been arrested in connection with the murder.
He said: “The incident was a clear case of murder, as his assailants did not pick anything from the scene of the incident, including his car.”
Adejobi said that the lady in question, her husband and her husband’s driver were also quizzed by the police .
While reacting to Hamzat’s death, Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Honourable Adeyemi Ikuforiji on Monday disclosed that the late former Special Adviser  had survived many murder attempts before his eventual alleged murder by yet-to-be identified gunmen on Sunday night.
He made the disclosure in a tribute session during a plenary session, even as the Lagos State governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, had expressed shock over the murder of his ex-aide, describing it as unfortunate and heart-rending.
Fashola described the late Hamzat as a man of peace, saying that it was an irony of life that such a man who gave so much in the service of his nation and community could come to such a violent end.
While condoling with his Ogun State counterpart, the government and people at Ogun State as well as the immediate family of the deceased, Governor Fashola described Honourable Hamzat’s death as a personal loss to him, Lagos State and the entire South-West family of the Action Congress of Nigeria.
The Chief Whip of the House, Honourable (Dr) Abdulrazaq Balogun, who brought the issue up during a plenary session, recounted his last meeting with the deceased after he (Hamzat) was honoured with a chieftancy title in Ijebu-Ode few months back.
Honourable Balogun said: “Once a Special Adviser for four years in the Ministry of Health, he had a cordial relationship with his commissioner and performed his role diligently as expected of him.
The Speaker, Rt. Honourable Adeyemi Ikuforiji said he had not found words to describe the death of Toyin Hamzat, saying that “I did not sleep throughout the night.”
Ikuforiji added that “but like most members who spoke concerning the security of the nation, the Federal Government is playing politics with the future of our nation.”
He further disclosed that assassins had made several attempt on Hamzat before last weekend.
When the Nigerian Tribune visited one of his houses at MKO Abiola Gardens at No. 59 Kaneri Close, the place was almost completely deserted, with only a Police Surveillance Van parked in front of the house. Finding showed that many of the residents of the estate at the time of filing this report had not heard of the death of the politician.
The late Hamzat has since been buried in his hometown, Aiyepe Ijebu in Odogbolu Local Government Area of Ogun State, according to Islamic rites.