Oluwatosin Enesi
Nigerian singer, Teniola Apata, popularly known as Teni has recalled how her father, Simeon Apata, a retired Nigerian Army Brigadier-General, was assassinated in Lagos on January 8, 1995, by unknown gunmen.
Teni said she witnessed her father’s assassination at the tender age of two during a recent podcast.
She described her late father as a respected soldier who helped to safeguard their neighborhood from criminals.
Teni, 29, remembered her father as a disciplined man who not only served in the military but also owned Apata Memorial High School and was known for his generous philanthropic endeavors.
“My father was a disciplinarian. He was a soldier and he owned a school; Apata Memorial High School. He was also a big philanthropist.
“Growing up with my father passing at such a young age, the trauma of losing my father at a young age affected me. You know, him being assassinated in the presence of all of us and all that stuff. I was two at the time.
“Him passing away robbed me as a child of having a father figure. It sort of made me have trust issues growing up. Because they [gunmen] came into our house purposely to kill him.”
The singer added that her father would always remain the person she looked up to the most.
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