Drowned Lagos politician’s remains found, buried

Forty-eight hours after he slipped and got drowned in the Lagos lagoon, the remains of Lagos politician Mustain Abaniwonda were finally retrieved and buried yesterday at the Victoria Court Cemetery, Lagos,  reports Joke Kujenya 
Relief came the way of family members of drowned Lagos politician Mustain Abaniwonda yesterday. His remains were found floating face-up deep into the sea by a search party 48 hours after he slipped into the lagoon in Marina and was swept away by the tidal waves.


The body of the Lagos East senatorial candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the April elections was buried at the Victoria Court Cemetery on the Lekki/Epe Expressway yesterday afternoon.
At his Victoria Garden City home, there were shouts of Alhamdulillah (we thank God) as the news  of his body’s recovery was broken.
A search party led by his son-in-law, who simply identified himself as Yomi, who got married to Abaniwonda’s second daughter, Omoyinsola, last month, set out again as early as 8.00am after the futile effort to locate the remains on Monday.
His widow, Kuburat  said: “I prayed to Allah throughout the night for his body to be found so that my mind could be at rest. The last 24-hours were traumatic. How could a person die in such a manner? How could he not be given a befitting burial? For my husband to suffer till he could have had the last breath and still be left to wild nature would have been contrary to my faith in Allah?
“No, I just couldn’t bear that thought. It was too much. So, I refused to sleep, praying throughout the night. And my God has never failed me. I thank God for answering me.”
Yomi said: “When his body was spotted in the middle of the lagoon, it was found face-up. “That made it easy for us to know that it was dad.”
He said Abaniwonda’s remains were found at exactly 10.52am. The body was carried on the flying boat used by the search party and taken to the General Hospital in Ikeja for clean-up and preparation for burial.
Yomi said: “I wish to tell you that we found all the personal effects, wrist-watch, the shirt-and-trousers he wore that morning with the belt, his socks and shoes, all intact on him. Nothing was missing when we found him. The only thing is that the water had changed the colour of his skin and he had cuts and blood stains all over his body.”
President of the VGC Muslim Association  Alhaji Taofik Awwal performed the funeral rites in the company of Chief Imam of Epe Alhaji Sadala Abdulrahman. He said: “Our late brother Mustain was a man of high integrity. He would not take what does not belong to the other person.
“By the way our brother went, God has shown us all that we are mere mortals who could be taken out of this way as only He, God, decides.”
He also denied that Abaniwonda committed suicide.
Many of the late politician’s friends and associates were at the cemetery to bid him farewell. They included: Mr. Jimi Agbaje, Mr. Wale Edun, Mrs Kate Akhigbe, representative of the Olu of Epe, Oba Sefiu Adewale, Hon Hakeen Gbajabiamila, Chief Setonji Koshoedo, Mr Tunji Shelle, Senator Wahab Dosunmu and Mr Leke Pitan. culled from the The Nation