Arábìnrin Sola

From The 61 year old man you see in this photo just lost his life in a ghastly car accident along Ibeju—Eleko expressway, Lagos. His name is Mr. Salisu Oluwaferanmi Dusonye. An abroad based retired College Cricket coach. He was with 3 of his retiree friends who came back to Nigeria from the UK to inspect the almost 2 hectares of land they collectively bought from a real estate company in Ibeju-Lekki with their entire life savings. 2 hectares of land they were to later discover were committed land acquired by the Lagos state government and STRICTLY reserved for public infrastructure, airports, industrial facilities and future public schemes. A popular Lekki 'big girl' realtor with big nyash and figure 8 convinced these senior citizens to spend almost £72,000 to acquire these lands in 2023 promising them that, due to its proximity to the Dangote refinery, Lekki free trade zone and Ibeju-Lekki sea port, the value of the land would quadruple in 3 years or less. They decided to travel back home together some days ago with a surveyor and a team of lawyers to see their 'retirement investment'. Before today, they had sent the land documents and coordinates via their legal attorney to ministry of lands in Alausa for search and confirmation. Full feedback didn't return until this morning while all 4 elders were at the site of their property which they had already started fencing. They were informed that: No private individual could build or use any land around that area because it was committed acquisition land!!!! No private individual could resell that land because it belonged to the government!!! In summary, they had just thrown away £72,000 and the additional N600,000 they were currently spending on labour and cement to fence off the area was also pointless!!! One of the elderly friends, a Mr. Godwin Adegwu instantly had a heart attack on the site there and slipped unconscious. Mr. Dusonye who was the spokesperson of the friends and the primary purchaser of the land started calling the 'Lekki big girl' realtor who marketed and sold the land to him and his friends 3 years ago. She initially pretended like she didn't know the man, and when he mentioned the name of her company and described the nature of their transaction, spelling out her full name, she switched to telling the man to send an email to the company, that she doesn't own the company— and when the man kept insisting that she had tricked him into making a bad investment because of her commission and selfish interest, do you know what this lady said? She asked the man why he didn't do proper investigation before buying the land, and pointed that real estate was a 50/50 gamble and a matter of luck and did he expect that she came to Lagos to count bridges? She summed up her defense with stating that her job was advertising lands and connecting interested buyers to the company— and NOT giving guarantees on the land being bought. That did he expect her not to sell land and collect her commission? With this she ended the call and blocked the man. The poor old man had the call on loudspeaker so his other elderly friends, the surveyors and their respective solicitors and attorneys could hear all she said. In the process of scrambling into their cars to carry their unconscious colleague to a hospital, both cars were involved in an accident and all the 4 friends and one of their lawyers died at the spot. Mr. Salisu's 34 year old son who was behind the wheel in the car with the fatalities was mangled beyond recognition. All 5 occupants of the Honda Sedan car the other lawyers and surveyors rode survived with few scratches, 1 or 2 broken collar bones and sprained wrists. It was Barrister Sharafa who called me just now breathing heavily: 'Ivan Eagle Lawson.... I know you have a platform. Please warn all the faithful fans because I don't think the government is interested in helping matters. Especially those based in Lagos and Abuja! Olusola Agbalu

They Silenced the Man Who Preached Peace: Who Killed Sheikh Yahaya Masussuka? Yesterday, on the evening of Monday, October 26, 2026, two gunmen on a motorcycle stopped at the gate of Sheikh Yahaya Ibrahim Masussuka's home in Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State. They opened fire. Within minutes, one of Northern Nigeria's most talked-about Islamic voices was dead, and so was his friend, Adamu Abubakar. This was not a random robbery. It was a targeted killing at a man's doorstep. A preacher who refused to conform Masussuka was controversial, and he knew it. He was widely associated with the Qur'aniyyun movement, which argues for returning to the Qur'an as the primary source of faith. That position put him at odds with powerful clerical establishments, Salafi and Sufi alike. His critics called his teachings deviant. His followers called him courageous. Whatever you think of his theology, he fought with words, and he deserved to be answered with words. The warnings were public. This death did not come out of nowhere. Earlier this year, the Katsina State Government summoned Masussuka before a panel of Ulama over complaints about his preaching. In the same statement, the government acknowledged his counter-complaint that members of Jama'atu Izalatil Bid'a, the Izala movement, had insulted him and threatened to attack him. The Emir of Katsina convened a meeting and warned all sides against provocative sermons. The government itself admitted the tension continued. Amnesty International says he lived under threats and intimidation his entire life. So the question is not whether he was in danger. The state knew he was in danger. The question is what anyone did about it. He died preparing for peace When he was killed, Masussuka was preparing for a peace and unity gathering planned for October 31. A man organising a peace event was shot at his gate. Let that sink in. We do not yet know who pulled the trigger or who sent them. The police say they are investigating. That is not enough. We demand that: -The investigation examine every documented threat made against him, including those he reported to the state government. -The findings be made public, whoever they implicate. -The Katsina State Government explain what protection, if any, followed his complaint. The bigger danger Northern Nigeria has seen this pattern before. Sheikh Ja'afar Mahmud Adam was gunned down in a Kano mosque in 2007. When theological disagreement turns into bullets, no scholar of any school is safe, and every Nigerian loses the right to think differently. The answer to a sermon must never be a gun. Justice for Sheikh Masussuka. Can Arewa be saved? Can Arewa ever know peace? Izala sect is the root of many evil in Northern Nigeria. Credit: Aare Kurunmi (Oladimeji Bolarinwa)