[OPINION] Sahara Reporters and It’s Attempt To Cover-up murdera Of APC Chieftain, Remi Abass

By Adebayo Adedeji

If there was any killing in Nigeria which made strong headlines and generated critical media reviews, it was the killing of Hon. Remi Abass, the former Chairman of Irewole Local Government who was bludgeoned to death by killers suspected to be PDP leaders and thugs in Osun State.

Abass, a prominent Ikire chief and one of the local government executives reinstated by the Court of Appeal earlier in the year, was reportedly murdered in the premises of Irewole Local Government secretariat on 17th February, 2025 when he was resuming for work following the directive of the court. On the fateful day, a video of a PDP chieftain and chairmanship candidate in Irewole in the botched 2025 local government elections, Jide Jooda, surfaced, where he was captured showing some fierce-looking men around the secretariat, just shortly before Abass met his untimely death in the same premises.

Following the unfortunate incident, a formal complaint by the family of slain politician was made to the police who swung into action and got a number of suspects arrested, including some PDP warlords. Mr Jide Jooda and one Ademola Adelugbin Apomu, whose reported death has been politicized by Sahara Reporter to water down the criminal case already before a competent court of the land, were two of the suspects nabbed by the police.

Apomu, reported by Sahara Reporters to have died in the police custody, was arrested in connection with murder of Late Remi Abass. This is contrary to the story published by Sahara Reporter that he was arrested in connection with the local government election matters, a story slanted to embarrass the former governor of Osun State and minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola.

The wilful misinformation circulated by Sahara Reporters raises concerns about the integrity of the reporting of the news outfit. Is Sahara Reporters serving the interest of some politicians jittery about the direction the police investigation is going? Was Sahara Reporters hired to kill the investigation of murder of Remi Abass? Why did Sahara Reporters conceal the fact that the reported suspect, Apomu, was facing three criminals counts in a Federal Court, Abuja, bordering on illegal possession of firearms, terrorism and murder of Remi Abass?

According to Count three of the case leveled against Apomu and other PDP chieftains, “…sometimes around and or about 17th February, 2025, with others ( now at large) did kill one Remi Abass on 17th February, 2024, at Ikire, Osun State. You knew death will be probable cause of your action. You thereby committed an offence contrary to section 316 and punishable under section 319 of Criminal Code Act, Cap 38 LFN, 2004.”

It is disheartening that a weighty criminal case as above was what Sahara Reporters struggled to cover-up in its defamatory publication while attempting to settle political scores with hardworking public officials working in the government of President Bola Tinubu. The owner of Sahara Reporters is an unabashed critic of President Tinubu and has consistently weaved every machination to bring down his government. But must anyone preempt the police before the law enforcement agents arrest criminals?

Whereas the circumstances that led to the reported death of the murder suspect, Ademola Adelugbin Apomu, is still sketchy and can not be ascertained now, the Nigerian public must stand in resolute with the Nigerian Police to unearth the murder of Remi Abass and the strange death of the Suspect Apomu. Did Apomu die a natural death or his death was masterminded by powerful forces to bury the dastardly murder of Remi Abass? Abass’ death should not be swept under the carpet as that of Late Saheed Oyegunju was.

Oyegunju was killed in a similar circumstance in the same Ikire. Until his death, he was the Ikire Ward 9 Treasurer of the All Progressives Congress ( APC), and was kidnapped in Ikire on 2nd February, 2023, on his way to APC presidential campaign when Asiwaju Tinubu visited Osogbo. In a trending video circulated after his kidnap, he was seen whisked away on a motorcycle by characters identified as political thugs. His lifeless body was later found along Oosa Village via Ikire. The leader of the assailants was said to be one Sodiq Ayewo while another accomplice was Kokumo. The case was shortly investigated but later buried.

Does Sahara Reporters want another murder case to die an induced death just like that…? The news medium should join the Police to bring criminals to book, not to act as enablers of crime as its operators are currently doing with their hatchet and slanted reports.