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Saibu Ayinde Bakare. The popular Juju musician disappeared exactly 51 years.
He was born in 1912 in Lagos but his father was from the Balogun Ajikobi family of Ilorin and for 37 years, he entertained a cross section of fans every where.
It was Sunday, October 1, 1972 and Ayinde Bakare and his Band had a day gig at a wedding event at Isale-Gangan area of Lagos Island and was also billed for a night engagement at Ijebu-Ode. As it was usually the case, some members of the Band had gone ahead to Ijebu-Ode to set up for the evening event while the Lagos show was going on. It was while the Band was on break that the unthinkable happened. It was believed that Ayinde Bakare retreated to the backstage during the break when some unknown persons reportedly invited him for some discussions away from his Band members and he was never seen again. Some initially thought that he had left with a woman for an amorous hook up when he did not come back after the break and his deputy, Ayanniyi Atanda took over the leadership and they completed the gig. When he did not come back, some thought he had gone ahead to Ijebu Ode only to get there and not finding him there. All efforts to locate him proved fruitless until a few days later.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, 4th October 1972, the police had found a body floating on the Lagos Lagoon near Bonny Camp in Victoria Island and the police who found the body were unable to connect the body they had found with the missing musician .
The body was dumped among other unclaimed bodies and was given a mass burial by the Lagos City Council at the Atan Cemetery .
Source: The Nigerian Nostalgia 1960
-1980 Project by Kehinde Dare.
Now you know.
This post was done in 2023.
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