El-Rufai loses brother, nephew in car crash

 

El-Rufai

Tragedy struck in the family of a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, on Saturday as it lost two of their members to a car accident.

It was learnt that three others were also killed in the accident.

Although it could not be ascertained where the accident occurred, the two of the five deceased were el-Rufai’s immediate brother, Ibrahim; and his nephew Lawal Sani- Gwandu.

Ibrahim, who recently left the services of First Bank of Nigeria, was said to be older than Sani-Gwandu, and both were reported to have been married with children.

The bereaved el-Rufai, while  confirming the incident via his Twitter page, said he did not “know very well” the other three friends that died along with his relatives in the car crash.

He stated, “Please join us in praying for the souls of my brother Ibrahim el-Rufai, my nephew Lawal Sani-Gwandu and their three friends that died today (Saturday).

“My nephew, Lawal, was a baby I had nursed. He was my sister’s eldest son. The motor accident took his life, Ibrahim’s and three others.

“It is sad when one’s younger sibling pre-deceased one. I was Ibrahim’s big brother and protector from bullies. He died today (Saturday). Allahu Akubar.

He said the five corpses were retrieved from the scene of the incident and taken to Kaduna, where they were prepared for prayers at the Sultan Bello Mosque.

The interment of the deceased was said to have taken place at the Dawaki Road Cemetery on Sunday.

El-Rufai’s son, Bello, also took to Twitter to mourn the death of his relatives. “These are all tests from the Almighty and our family will get through it,” the younger el-Rufai wrote.

Meanwhile, el-Rufai has thanked Nigerians who in their numbers have commiserated with him on the loss of his relatives.

“On behalf of the el-Rufai family, I thank all of you for the support, sympathies and prayers. May Almighty God accept our prayers, Amen!” el-Rufai, the Deputy National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday.