Special Feature
Famous Nigerians That Were Assassinated In Their Cars In Traffic
Several high-profile Nigerians have been assassinated while driving in a car.
Victims of this type of murder frequently have little options for escape. They are practically face to face with their attackers.
As a result of these events, the number of bulletproof vehicles owned by high-net-worth individuals who can afford them has increased.
We have compiled a list of ten Nigerians who were tragically killed by assassins’ bullets while commuting in traffic.
Murtala Mohammed
General Murtala Mohammed was installed as Nigeria’s military head of state on July 30, 1975.
On Friday 13 February 1976, he set off for work to his office at Dodan Barracks, Lagos. He took his usual route on George Street.
Shortly after 8 a.m., his Mercedes Benz car was stuck in the notorious Lagos traffic near the Federal Secretariat in Ikoyi.
A group of soldiers emerged from an adjacent petrol station, attacked the vehicle and fired at Muhammed there.
Murtala Muhammed, 37, was assassinated in his black Mercedes Benz sedan, along with his aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Akintunde Akinsehinwa.
Lt. Col Buka Suka Dimka orchestrated the assassination as part of a failed coup attempt.
Olusegun Obasanjo, the Chief of Staff of the Nigerian Army succeeded General Murtala Mohammed.
Lynda Obasanjo
Lynda Obasanjo was the wife of Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s former military head of state.
On Friday, February 14, 1987, in a business district of Lagos, a gang of young men approached a Peugeot car she was driving.
After Linda Obasanjo, Nee Soares, 45, refused to give up her car, the gunmen shot and killed her. They then hauled her body out of the car and fled.
The attackers abandoned the Peugeot vehicle around three miles away.
Her husband, Olusegun Obasanjo, was at his farm in Abeokuta, Ogun State, at the time of the occurrence.
Babatunde Elegbede
Between July 1975 until October 1978, Vice-Admiral Tunde Elegbede served as Military Governor of Cross River State, Nigeria.
From July 1986 to January 1990, he was the Chief of Nigeria’s Defence Intelligence Agency.
Elegbede was assassinated on the Gbagada/Oworonshoki road in Lagos on June 19, 1994 in front of his wife. He was hit by more than 70 automatic rifle bullets.
Three of the seven accused thieves were formally charged in July 2001.
Nobody has been convicted of the murder decades after it occurred.
Kudirat Abiola
Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, a Nigerian pro-democracy campaigner, was married to MKO Abiola, the acknowledged winner of the Nigerian presidential election held on June 12, 1993,
Mrs. Abiola was shot and killed by assassins in 1994 outside the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway toll gate.
Hamzat Al-Mustapha, the officers attached to the late General Sani Abacha, and others were charged with the politically motivated murder.
Jerry Agbeyegbe
Captain Jerry Agbeyegbe was a courageous voice in Nigeria’s aviation sector and one of the country’s most gifted pilots.
He spoke up and fought against anything that appeared to be in violation of aviation laws and standards. He also pushed for the safety of aviation workers in general.
On October 12, 2004, Agbeyegbe was slain in his silver BMW saloon automobile, registration number DB 244 EKY.
The incident occurred on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway’s Alapere, Ketu, and Oworoshoki axis. At the time of his death, he was 49 years old.
Charles Achor Nsiegbe
Hon Charles Nsiegbe served in the Rivers State House of Assembly for a number of years. He was also the South-South Zone Publicity Secretary for the People’s Democratic Party.
On November 20, 2009, he was shot near the Clock Tower Hotel in GRA, Port Harcourt, along Tombia Extension.
A man in a mobile police uniform allegedly halted the automobile in which he was being driven. After collecting his vehicle information, the man told him to open the boot of his car for a search.
As he alighted from his bulletproof SUV to follow the assailant’s orders, he was shot multiple times.
Alex Badeh
During the Goodluck Jonathan administration, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh was the Chief of Defense Staff.
On the 18th of December 2018, while returning from his farm along the Abuja-Keffi Road, he was attacked in his vehicle.
He died as a result of bullet wounds he received during the attack.
Barnabas and Abigail Igwe
Barnabas Igwe was the chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association’s Anambra State branch.
He was a vocal opponent of Anambra State Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju at the time.
Barnabas Igwe and his wife Abigail Amaka Igwe were in a car in September 2002 when three dark individuals appeared out of nowhere and assassinated them with machetes.
The murderers did not spare Mrs Abigail’s unborn child because she was pregnant.
Andrew Agom
Engineer Andrew Agom was a former Managing Director of Nigeria Airways and a member of the PDP Board of Trustees.
On March 4, 2004, he was a member of Senator George Akume’s entourage, the former governor of Benue State.
The governor’s convoy was traveling to Kaduna for a conference of governors from the 19 northern states.
The convoy was targeted in Nasarawa-Eggon in Nasarawa State. The incident occurred about 7.15 a.m.
Engineer Andrew Agom, who was sitting next to the governor in his official Toyota Land Cruiser Jeep, was unlucky, as gunshots aimed at the governor hit him in the stomach. He passed away on the spot.
Sergeant John Ngam, one of the governor’s police protection officers, was also killed.
Dipo Dina
Otunba Dipo Dina was a politician, philanthropist, and administrator in Nigeria.
After joining the defunct Action Congress, he ran for governor of Ogun State in the 2007 election (AC).
Dipo was abducted and driven in another car to an unknown site where he was slain on January 25, 2010, while driving to his home on Dolphin Estate in Ikoyi.
The assailant is said to have spared the lives of his driver, Mr.Tunde Oyediran, and a prophetess, Funmi Olagoke, who were both passengers in the Toyota Camry he was driving.
Rasak Jikoji
Chief Rasak Jikoji, a Lagos-based socialite and potential Badore chieftaincy candidate, was slain on Sunday, April 25, 2021.
On the chieftaincy seat, Rasaki had celebrated a court verdict in his favor a month before.
When he was shot and killed, he was claimed to be with his personal assistant.
His skull was also crushed open with a large stone by the intruders.
The 60-year-old was taken to the Lagos Island General Hospital and pronounced dead.
