Ibrahim Hussaini, a dispatch rider attached to the convoy of Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, has been killed after a petrol tanker rammed into the motorcade.
Akpabio revealed the incident on Tuesday during plenary, where he announced the death and extended condolences to the family of the deceased.
Dispatch riders, who are police officers, form part of the security detail of top government officials and typically escort convoys on motorcycles.
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Although the Senate President did not state the precise location of the crash, he said it happened in Ibadan, Oyo State, shortly after members of his convoy picked him up from the Ibadan Airport.
“We went to Oyo State for the installation of our colleague, but the vehicles that came to pick me up at the Ibadan airport, unfortunately, my dispatch rider was run over by a tanker driver, and his head was shattered.
“We just buried him 15 minutes ago in Kogi State. He left two wives and four children,” the Senante President told lawmakers.
He appealed to heads of ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to consider offering automatic employment to the children of the late officer.
The Senate President added that he would personally intervene if vacancies were unavailable.
“By the grace of God, I’m recommending two of his senior children for employment immediately in any parastatals that may wish to, otherwise I’ll employ them personally in any of my private concerns,” he said.
Following the disclosure, Senator Sunday Karimi, who represents Kogi West, rose on a motion of personal explanation to formally brief the Senate on the tragedy.
While sympathising with Akpabi, Karimi noted that the deceased dispatch rider, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), was due to retire next year.
He also said Hussaini, an indigene of Kogi State, had served in the Senate President’s convoy since 2023, when Mr Akpabio assumed office.
In the same motion, Karimi informed the chamber of the death of another officer, Ibrahim Tukur, a driver attached to Senator Isah Jibrin (Kogi East), who died on Saturday after 25 years of service.
The senator expressed condolences to the families of both deceased officers and to the Kogi State Government.
Thereafter, the Senate President directed senators to observe a one-minute silence in honour of the late dispatch rider and the deceased driver.
