CITIZENS COMPASS—A renowned human right activist, Comrade Abiodun Aremu, yesterday, died while crossing the road to his house in Ogun State.
Citizens Compass reports that the activist was reportedly knocked down by a hit-and-run driver around Sango/Ota, Ogun State.
Time was about 6p.m.
Aremu was said to be rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors battled to save his life but he eventually died following the injuries sustained in the accident.
Efforts were ongoing to apprehend the hit-and-run driver.
The activist popularly known as Aremson was initially scheduled to be buried on Monday.
He was Secretary of the Joint Action Front (JAF), the umbrella body for pro-labour civil society organisations.
The 65-year-old Aremu has been at the forefront of some major struggles against hardship and impoverishment of many Nigerians.
He was reportedly knocked down while crossing the road to his residence in Ota.
He was said to have been rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors tried to resuscitate him with oxygen, but he was later confirmed dead.
The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), on Monday, mourned the departed comrade.
Lagos CDHR Chairman, Comrade Adewale Ojo, on the media platform of the activists has since commiserated with the human rights body.
In a statement titled, “CDHR, Lagos Branch mourns COMRADE ABIODUN AREMU – a Dogged, Aluta Conscious Hero,” he said, “The CDHR, Lagos Branch sends her condolences to the Nigeria Labour Movement, JAF, ACIS, the Human Rights community at large and the entire family.
“Comrade Abiodun AREMU will be greatly missed for his sacrifice, courage and selflessness which have inspired countless cadres to stand strong and brave in fighting oppressions.
“AREMSON legacy lives on as we refire from where he retired!”
Condolence messages have been pouring in in honour of the late comrade.
An Oyo State-based human rights lawyer, Barr. Akinrinde Rashidat popularly known as Rashy, in her condolence message said, “Rest in Power, Comrade Abiodun Aremu (a.k.a. Aremson).
“This one cuts deep.
A revolutionary flame has been extinguished too soon.
“Comrade Abiodun Aremu, Aremson as we fondly called him, was not just a fellow traveller in the struggle; he was a bold spirit, a fearless fighter, a tireless mobiliser, and a brother in arms. Together, we marched, we resisted, side by side under the banner of the Joint Action Front and across many battle lines drawn by oppression.
“He gave everything. He never wavered.
“Even when illness struck, when the stroke came to silence his body, it could not touch his will. He fought, stubbornly, bravely, the way only revolutionaries know how to fight, with clenched fists and an undying love for the oppressed.
“But then, as if fate hadn’t taken enough, a hit-and-run driver struck. The system that never protected us in life failed him again in death. Comrade Aremson was taken from us and the weight of that loss is immense.
“We have lost more than a comrade. We have lost a firebrand. A soldier of the masses.The Left has lost a fierce light.
“But revolutionaries do not die.
They transform.
They become echoes in our chants.
They live on in the barricades we build.
They march with us still in every protest, every pamphlet, every cry for a system change.
“Rest in power, Aremson.
We carry your name with us.
We raise your banner high.
And we say with sorrow, with rage, with unwavering commitment:
“Aluta continua.
Victoria ascerta.
The struggle continues!
In a statement issued on behalf of the Nigeria Labour Movement, the former Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity ,OATUU, and ex-Acting General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Owei Lakemfa, said: “The Aremu family has agreed with the Labour Movement that the interment of our leader, Comrade Abiodun ‘Aremson’ Aremu, be moved by about two weeks. This is to allow for proper mobilisation and attendance.“Consequently, Comrade Aremu will now be interred on Thursday, 23rd October 2025, at Number 30, Kabiru Fatoye Street, Opposite Alaka Field, Ijako Sugar Bus Stop, Ifo Road, Lagos–Abeokuta Expressway.”
He added: “Our hearts are with the dear family of our departed Comrade.”
Comrade, Joe Ajaero, the President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), in a statement, titled, Obituary: The working class mourns the passage of Comrade Abiodun ‘Aremson’ Aremu, a fearless general of the people, wrote, “The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the entire spectrum of the progressive Civil Society in Nigeria are plunged into deep grief and shattering sorrow by the tragic and untimely death of our comrade, teacher, and steadfast General, Comrade Abiodun ‘Aremson’ Aremu. He was snatched from our ranks on the evening of Sunday, 12th October 2025, in a brutal hit-and-run accident in his neighbourhood in Ifo, Ogun State.
“Comrade Aremu was no ordinary man; he was a titan of the class struggle, an organic intellectual of the working people, and an unwavering internationalist whose life was a testament to unalloyed commitment to the cause of the oppressed. His entire political life was a seamless fusion of revolutionary theory and concrete praxis, dedicated to the emancipation of the working class and the construction of an egalitarian, socialist society.
“As a key architect of the Labour Civil Society Coalition (LASCO) and other vital platforms such as Joint Action Front (JAF), Comrade Aremu played an indispensable role in forging the unity between the organized working class and the broader popular masses. He understood that the chains of the Nigerian people could only be broken through a united front against the exploitative capitalist system. He was a true workers’ General who never wavered, never compromised, and never retreated.
“Recognizing that the battle for the future is a battle for the minds of the youth, he founded the Amilcar Cabral Institute of Ideological Studies (ACIS). This school was his ideological gift to the movement, a crucial apparatus for conscientizing a new generation of revolutionaries, arming them with the tools of scientific socialism and the spirit of internationalist solidarity, as seen in his leadership of the Nigeria Movement for the Liberation of Western Sahara and the Nigerian Movement of Solidarity with Cuba.
“The circumstances of his death, a so-called “hit-and-run,” reek of a sinister pattern, reminiscent of the suspicious death of another valiant comrade, Patrick Naagbanton. The Nigeria Labour Congress demands an immediate, transparent, and thorough investigation by the Federal and State Governments into this heinous act. We cannot, and will not, accept this as a mere accident. The Nigerian state must dispel the foul odour surrounding his death by apprehending the perpetrator and revealing the full truth. The working class deserves answers.
“As we mourn this colossal loss, we call on all comrades, allies, and all Nigerians who yearn for a better world to converge on Ifo, Ogun State, on Thursday the 23rd of October, to collectively give our beloved General a befitting, ideological burial.
“The greatest tribute we can pay to this fearless teacher is to immortalize him not just in tears, but in action. We must recommit to the ideals he lived and died for: the relentless struggle against exploitation, the ideological clarity of the left, and the building of a mass movement capable of acquiring power for the people. We also enjoin all to remember and support the family he has left behind, who shared him with the struggle.
“Comrade Abiodun Aremu has joined the pantheon of revolutionary ancestors. His body has fallen, but his ideas and zeal are invincible. Nigerian masses will miss him! Nigerian workers will remember him! NLC mourns his exit! Who will join us at the barricades! Let the Cadre arise and bear aloft the flag of passionate struggle which he embodied!
“The struggle continues! until the liberation of the working class is complete!”
A condolence register has been opened in his honour.
