The bereaved father is a renowned radio Pastor, who runs a Christian Ministry with several branches and satellites. Thus, an endless stream of sympathisers understandably thronged the headquarters of Pastor Segun Asubiaro’s Calvary Authority Pentecostal Assemblies (CAPA) in Ikorodu area of Lagos after the shocking news broke out that Samuel, his only son, had been killed in a hit-and-run car accident.
You could feel the heavy cloud of sorrow that hung over the entire CAPA churchyard at 12, Bello Solebo Street, in Ikorodu town, as people poured in to commiserate with the church Founder and his wife, Beatrice, and the Late Samuel’s three sisters.
Tragedy struck in the evening of Saturday, August 27, just a few minutes after Samuel Oluwabusayo Asubiaro, 27, left his father in the church for music rehearsals at a parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), in Ikorodu, where he usually worshipped.
A car drove recklessly and ploughed into him where he stood by the roadside with a friend, just opposite the General Hospital.
His head slammed hard into the tarred road, leaving him bleeding from all pores.
The young man died on the spot.
By the time sympathisers rushed him into the hospital just opposite the accident scene, doctors pronounced him dead.
His Dad said: “By the time news reached me and I rushed to the hospital, he was already gone. He left too soon. Samuel’s death is a bitter pill. He lived life to the fullest and left us very quickly.”
Police later arrested the young man who drove the car (identity withheld) and kept him in custody at the Police Station in Ikorodu, Lagos.
However, Asubiaro said he had no interest in pushing for the prosecution of the killer-driver, who plunged his family’s world into a bottomless pit of unimaginable sorrow.
Recounting their last moment together, the CAPA lead Pastor said: “We were together in the church all that day. Looking back now, I remember he stuck very close to me, unusually close. He tailed me wherever I moved through the church premises. Where I sat, he sat; and when I rose to do something, he too rose up and accompanied me. It was as if he had a premonition this would be our last day together and he wanted to make the most of it.
”My church choristers were supposed to hold rehearsals with him. However, none turned up going well past the scheduled time of around 4pm. After waiting in vain for them, he took leave of me to attend the rehearsal of the Redeemed parish where he worships. Just a few moments later, people rushed in to tell me a car crashed into Samuel where he stood with somebody else. Nothing happened to his companion.”
He was the only male of Pastor Abel Olusegun and Deaconess Beatrice Asubiaro’s four children.
Although holding Bachelor’s (Joseph Ayo Babalola University, 2012) and Master’s (University of Lagos, 2018) degrees in Economics, Samuel worked as a Head Consultant, Senior Data Analyst and Web Application Developer at Sprout Analytics and InfoTech Solutions in Lagos.
On his Linkserve page, his profile was captured as: “Skilled in Economic Research, Data Analysis, Business Systems, Management and Consulting; strong Consulting Professional with a Master’s degree focused in Economics from University of Lagos.”
He exuded a strong passion for music and had extraordinary dexterity in playing the guitar and the keyboard as well as being a vocalist.
Astutely multi-talented and dedicated, he twice received the award of RCCG Region 26 Youth Choir’s Most Dedicated Musician.
Samuel wrote some poetry too. He titled one, “Dear Female.”
Dear female, with this poem, I give you a ticket to get on my train of thoughts,
You are beautiful, adorable so we said and so you thought,
But now that the truth has dawned,
To those who should protect you, you are worth a little more than a sex doll.
For many of your kind, freedom is an Illusion,
You’re limited by society, tradition, and religion,
You carry so much virtue, even the fate of human survival
But you own life, we make so trivial.
You didn’t choose your gender,
But you fit perfectly in our sexual agenda
Whether its work or leisure,
We don’t care about your joy only our pleasure.
We are the opposite sex,
your Fathers, your brothers, your uncles, your ex.
Whether we have seen you as a sex object
Or have been silent on the subject.
This is not a letter of apology,
This is a witness to our weakness.
To protect and serve you, many of us have sworn,
it is clear we can do that except when our body craves for your own.
You don’t need our permission to step outside,
For that our ego will need to set aside
Human safety is not based on whether what she wears is skimpy or tight,
Human safety is a timeless Human Right.
Shocked sympathisers have been posting comments on his Facebook wall.
Michael Lawal said: “RIP. Still hard to believe that you have gone to be with your maker.”
Princess Chizzy wrote: “Seriously so unbelievable. It is well. My heart aches ”
Modadeola Ayodele and Oluwamayowa Adejoke separately penned, “It is well.”
Adeyinka Bright Fayarap also wrote: “Hmmmm. It’s well.”
The young Asubiaro had been responsible for live-streaming the church Sunday service on Facebook, and it succeeded in attracting followers from, Canada, US, UK, Iraq, India and several other countries.
“By the last count, we were reaching an audience spanning 26 states of this country. He kept assuring me that it would grow further,” his Dad said.
Sympathisers to the bereaved Pastor and his wife have included: Baales, chiefs and other titleholders from Ikorodu and beyond, fellow clergymen from the Pentecostal and orthodox stream, Islamic clerics, teachers from the Mum’s schools, and all shades of people –many of them total strangers.
“We really miss him,” the Mum, Beatrice, said. “But God knows best.”