One of Nigeria’s leading automobile dealers and socialite, Olanrewaju Rasak Shittu, is dead, Freelanews reports.

His death was confirmed to our correspondent by a source, close to the family.

“Ina lilahi wa inna ilehi rojihun. May Allah forgive his (Lanre Shittu) sins & short comings. May He grant him aljannat firdaus and give his family & friends the fortitude to bear the loss 🙏 Odun a jina si ra o🙏,” he wrote.

That Lanre did quite well for himself would be simply stating the obvious. He was the number one dealer in Mack trucks in Africa and holds the sole franchise for Mack brand vehicles in Nigeria. He was also the only dealer in Sany Heavy Duty Equipment and Yutong Buses in Nigeria, as well as an accredited dealer of KIA, NISSAN, Jinbei Buses, to name a few. Furthermore, he is a leading supplier of genuine Spare Parts to automobile dealers in Nigeria.

But it hasn’t all been fairy tales for the man of means as he has been plagued by scandals. In November 2000, Lanre was abducted by operatives alleged to be from the US Drug Enforcement Agency, who allegedly collaborated with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to whisk him away. He was arraigned before a US court for alleged money laundering.

Following his abduction, his wife and children were forced to flee their then Surulere, Lagos residence. Apparently, there was a pending civil suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja over a move by the Federal Government, led by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, to have him extradited to America to answer to the alleged money laundering charge. Although his extradition was a clear violation of the extradition treaty between Nigeria and the United States, there were speculations alleging that the government of the day was aware of the ‘kidnap.’
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Lanre was eventually freed, following the realisation that the District Court of New York lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter because both countries had violated the treaty on extradition, which they agreed to be binding on them.

He was 65 years old.