Did witches kill him? That’s the question that has been playing around the lips of many Nigerians since Kola Olawuyi’s death was announced at the weekend.

•Wife of the deceased, Mrs Abimbola Olawuyi, with gospel musician, Yinka Aiyefele PHOTO: TMOTHY OYEOLA

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But for Mike Eborah, a close friend of the deceased, that question has since been answered. According to him, Kola’s death was very natural.

“The way he died was the most natural death I have ever witnessed. He breathed his last and gave up the ghost,” said Eborah, Olawuyi’s friend of 26 years.
He spoke further on how Olawuyi died of stress last Friday evening after a tedious day’s job.

“When he was about to die, he didn’t utter a word to me. He died in my presence. He was in the office on Friday March 2, I saw him and the stress was all over him.
I advised him to leave and he obliged. I accompanied him home. Anyone that is close to him would know that he was a workaholic.

“We got home and the kids welcomed him with the gleeful shouts of ‘Daddy, Daddy and I handed over some of his things to his kids and I left. That was on a Friday (February 23).
“On Saturday when I came, I discovered that he was still weak, that he needed some rest. I discussed with his wife to let a doctor see him.
“The doctor came, administered some drugs but I thought it was all over that by the time we see again, we would be cracking our usual jokes.

“By Monday when I came, I saw the need for him to go into the hospital for a bed rest. And that was all.
“Throughout that week, I was quite busy but on Friday (March 2) I helped him to package his programmes. While rounding up, I called the wife who explained that she was just coming from the hospital. She came over and said, ‘Oh Mike, thank you, God bless you’. From the office, we both went back to the hospital, a normal private hospital. We saw him and it was like he was waiting for me to come. I knew he wanted to utter something, but he was unable to say anything. His heartbeat increased and he was gasping for breath and between two to six minutes, it was all over!

“It was actually so annoying that a newspaper (not Daily Sun) reported that it was a mysterious tree which he felled. The way he died was the most natural death I have ever witnessed. He breathed his last and gave up the ghost.
“I also need to point out that he was not ill for three months. The stress was just for a week and that was the end.”

Meanwhile, Olawuyi’s younger brother, Banjo Olawuyi, the fourth in the family said his brother was not in anyway fetish. “The closest person to him was Pastor Kalejaiye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God,” he said.
Banjo further told Daily Sun that his brother’s legacies will never perish as discussions are on about how to immortalise him. He said Kola’s wife might probably take over the presentation of the popular programmes since she majors in communication.
He further affirmed Eborah’s story saying since about a week the health of his brother has been in a bad state. “He complained of general body weakness and it was confirmed that it was as a result of accumulated stress,” he said.

The Olawuyi’s house since the announcement of the sad news has been hosting sympathisers. Some of his colleagues in the entertainment industry were seen in small groups as they paid their condolences.
Describing his late boss, Rotimi Olabudoye, Olawuyi’s driver explained that he was a man that believed strongly in the tenets of the word of God.

“I have never known him to be sick. He was always healthy until when I brought him home last week from work. He asked me to go home and the next day I called but he didn’t pick his calls. I just assumed that he didn’t want to be disturbed.

“Thereafter, I kept driving to see him at the hospital because another driver takes Madam and the children around. When I was told that he had died, my world collapsed because he is someone that ordinarily should live more than 80 years.
“He is so much used to fasting and praying. I have been with him now for a while and he was not fetish as some people alleged.”