Socialite, Lanre Shittu passes on a month after celebrating 65th birthday

Popular auto dealer and socialite, Lanre Shittu is dead. Shittu who was until his death, the chairman of Lanre Shittu Motors reportedly died on Mon

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Popular auto dealer and socialite, Lanre Shittu is dead.

Shittu who was until his death, the chairman of Lanre Shittu Motors reportedly died on Monday morning at the age of 65.

Details of his death however remains sketchy.

Sadly, death came calling just when he was about to expand the phase 2 of his local automobile assembling plant located in Abuja after receiving a boost from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

His company was among the 28 recipients of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN’s first cycle of the 100 for 100 policy on production and productivity (PPP).

Shittu is the number one dealer for Mack trucks in Africa and the sole franchisee for Mack in Nigeria. He is also the only dealer for Sany Heavy Duty Equipment and Yutong Buses in Nigeria as well as an accredited dealer of KIA, NISSAN, Jinbei Buses and many more.

He is also Nigeria’s leading supplier of genuine spare parts to automobile dealers in Nigeria.

Despite his successes, Lanre has had a few brushes with the law. He has also 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.’

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.

Also, his young wife, Ebunoluwa Oyindamola, a lawyer and businesswoman was involved with a young struggling banker while still an undergraduate and continued with him even after she graduated and started working.

But because the automobile dealer had more financial power, he allegedly snatched Oyindamola from this banker, whose name is Owolabi Bankole, after lavishing money on her.

To make matters worse, Oyindamola was the best friend to one of the daughters of Lanre. But on learning of her dalliance with her father, she quarreled bitterly with Oyindamola and parted ways with her.

Not to be deterred, Oyindamola and Lanre carried on with their affair without a care in the world and got their relationship formalised.

In 2019, they both renewed their wedding vows.