Nigerians have described the death of the Lagos-based human rights activist, Bamidele Aturu, as shocking and ill-timed. They added that the deceased died at a time when he was needed the most. Aturu, 49, died on Wednesday. Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, the Minister of State for Works, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, a legal icon, Prof. Itse Sagay, and popular Yoruba actor, Mr. Babatunde Omidina alias Baba Suwe, described his death as shocking and devastating.
The minister said, “It never for once occurred to me that we will lose Bamidele this soon. He will be sorely missed as a great lawyer and human rights activist, who contributed immensely to the pro-democracy struggle in Nigeria.
“The death of Bamidele Aturu is no doubt a sad loss to the entire people of Nigeria, especially the human rights community, and we can only continue to pray, trusting that God in His infinite mercies will grant his soul eternal rest.
“Bamidele Aturu will be remembered for devoting much of his legal practice to representing the marginalised or oppressed individuals and groups.
“His death has no doubt created a huge void in the legal profession and the human rights community, and he will be sorely missed.”
Amosun on Thursday also expressed shock at the demise of the human rights activist, stressing that he was committed to the enthronement of democratic principles.
In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Wakama, Amosun said he was greatly saddened by the news of the sudden death of the prominent lawyer, especially coming at a time when his wealth of experience was mostly needed in reshaping the destiny of the nation.
He said, “This is so sad, the law profession has lost another bright star. Bamidele Aturu was passionately committed to the enthronement of democratic principles and the emancipation of the marginalised and the oppressed. He has done his bit and certainly left his footprints on the sands of time.”
One of Aturu’s comrades in the struggle and a Lagos-based legal practitioner, Mr. Wale Ogunade, said Aturu’s death was unfortunate, especially at a time when the country needed to be saved from what he described as “the clutches of the forces of darkness that has held it hostage.”
Ogunade said, “It’s a rude shock. Aturu happens to be one of those people that the voiceless talk to. He died at a time when he is needed the most because the culture of impunity and injustice in the country grows like its being fertilised.” Many, who visited Aturu’s house in Agege, Lagos on Thursday to commiserate with the family, said that the vacuum created by his death would be hard to fill. A constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay, who arrived Aturu’s house in tears was too shocked to talk. He simply said, “Nigeria’s light has gone out.”
The Chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, Mr. Debo Adeniran, said, “Aturu was the only lawyer that was qualified to step into the large shoes that the late Gani Fawehinmi left behind. By his actions, his utterances, his practice, method and methodology, he was the carbon copy of Gani Fawehinmi. Aturu was a new Gani Fawehinmi cut-short; we have lost a new Gani Fawehinmi in Aturu.”
Adeniran recalled how Aturu stood on the side of the masses when the Lagos State Government moved to ban commercial motorcyclists popularly called okada in Lagos.
He said, “Though he did not win the fight, he won a place in the hearts of the people.”
He traced Aturu’s fight against oppression back to his days in the Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo State, where the deceased was a Students’ Union President.
He recalled how Aturu turned down an award and refused to shake hands with the then Military Governor of Niger State, Col. Lawan Gwadabe (retd.), in 1988 during the National Youth Service Corps passing out parade.
In the same vein, the Director General, Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization, Prof. Tunde Babawale, said Aturu was “a man of the people, a committed advocate of social justice, and a relentless fighter for the oppressive.”
Among the early callers to Aturu’s house on Thursday was also a former President, Nigerian Union of Journalists, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, who described Aturu’s death as, “a devastating shock! A huge loss; being someone who relentlessly identified with the course of the poor, the working class and students; he fought for genuine change.”
Others who visited the house were, Baba Suwe, who Aturu defended during his trial by the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency; the Chairman, Agege Local Government Area, Mr. Jubreel Abdulkareem, and a veteran journalist, Mr. Richard Akinola
Aturu’s comrades and human rights activists have however vowed to take his death as a catalyst for renewed fight against injustice. Ogunade, who also described Aturu’s vibrancy as next to that of late Gani Fawehinmi,said, “My consolation is that his struggle is not in vain; his death will propel someone like me to ensure that justice is done.”
Meanwhile, the Deputy Head of Aturu and Co. Chambers, Mrs. Chisa Anyanwu, has said that Aturu’s burial arrangements would be announced later.
Also, the immediate-past governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, has described Aturu’s death as a colossal loss not just to the human rights community and the legal profession, but to the country at large.
Obi said it was one of the deaths that Nigerians were united in wishing it never happened.
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