How Did Ayinla Omowura Really Die?

As many African history is passed down orally, details are lost in time. Such is the case with the death of Ayinla the popular Nigerian musician of the 1980s.

Many accounts of his death are still being orally passed down and some are provided below from personal encounters or encounter with people who knew the story:

Yesterday I was playing one of his song on my phone (Omo Araye) around somewhere in Osun State.

I was actually in the midst of elders while the song was playing from my phone., While we were entertaining ourselves with the track the elders started talking about what they knew about him, his relation with Ayinde Barrister, the year that track was released, how they use to dance along while it’s playing and a lot of memories they could remember.

As the youngest among them, I was very curious and I asked them politely ”Pls How did Ayinla Omowura really died? Who or what killed him? ”’ and an old woman among the elders answered and said.

Ayinla Omowura was murdered in a Beer Parlour, that he was killed by a man after hitting him on the head with a bottle of beer , another elderly Man also added that Ayinla Omowura used to wear a ring on one finger on his right hand and that the ring mustn’t get to touch blood that after he was hit by the bottle of beer he placed his hand on the spot where he was bleeding and he was wearing the ring on that very day.

Another account:

He was actually murdered by bayewumi. The cause of the death according to autopsy was certified to be cerebral shock resulting from a fracture of the skull associated with a contortion of the brain as well as well as large intracranial haemorrhage consistent with the deceased having been struck on the head with a heavy object.

Baiyewunmi was arrested and charged with the murder of Mr. Waidi Ayinla contrary to section 254(2) of the Criminal Code. The trial judge was Mr. Justice Owolabi Kolawole of the Ogun State High Court (later OFR and later, Justice of Court of Appeal). Bayewumi was sentenced for murder and was killed by hanging in the mid 80s.

Ayinla omowura’s death taught others who are coming behind to take life slowly, learn to forgive and allow things slide.

According to report in circulation incosistent with his recent song, he has a spiritualist whom he called the saviour of everybody, the man told him he may likely die in 1980 and he should be very careful and avoid engaging in dangerous activities throughout the year 1980, report claim he obey and refused to honor many show and stage performance because he believed any incident that will claim his life may likely happen in live show due to their violent nature.

If you listen carefully to the two album he released in 1980, it was filled with fear of death over him and his band members.

That is the little I know about him, I may be wrong but this is easiest reasonably info I was able to gather. Maybe somebody can dig further to get the case file and the exact year Bayewumi was hanged.

His real surname was not Omowura. His mother was called Wura so one of the band drummers named him Omo Wura and it stuck.

Actually the drummer who gave him the name Omo Wura was the real leader of the band. Ayinla was just the ceremonial head because he had a good voice

Ayinla also had a quarrel with Sikiru Ayinde Barrister because he once visited Barrister’s house in Lagos and he was asked to fill a form before seeing Barrister so he got angry and stormed out

The story that a bottle was broken on his head during a scuffle was confirmed by his band leader. That’s the actual cause of his death.

Oladipo Diya who was the then military governor of Ogun State signed the execution order of Baiyewu (the killer)

During a practice session Ayinla had predicted that Baiyewu will be his killer nut Baiyewu rejected the prediction but it eventually came to pass