Odumakin’s Loss Heavy To Bear, Says Afenifere Leader, Adebanjo

Pa Ayo Adebanjo, the leader of the pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, has reacted to the death of the group’s National Publicity Secretary, Yinka Odumakin.

Odumakin died at the Covid Isolation Centre of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital after a brief illness.

The news of his death was confirmed by his wife, Mrs Joe Okei-Odumakin, on Saturday.

Reacting to the news, Afenifere’s new leader, Ayo Adebanjo tweeted a photo of Odumakin which he captioned, “This is too heavy to bear.”

Married to a fellow rights activist, Joe, in 1997, Odumakin’s voice was heard through the dark years of military despotism.

He played a major role in the National Democratic Coalition that fought the regime of late military head of state, General Sani Abacha, after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election.

As Afenifere spokesman, Odumakin spoke tenaciously for the rights of the Yoruba and the people of the South-West geopolitical zone.

Just before his death, he consistently condemned the activities of criminal Fulani herdsmen, who have been accused of farmland destruction, rape, killings and abductions in the South-West.