On Monday, July 18, President Mohammadu Buhari announced the reopening of investigation into Chief Bola Ige’s murder and by Tuesday, July 19, the police commenced moves to re-arrest the main suspects in the murder. Olu Falae also urged the president to look into all other unsolved murders. The late chief Bola Ige was the Oyo state governor between 1979 and 1983 and one time minister of power as well as Attorney-General of the federation between 1999 and 2001.
In the case of Bola Ige, the suspects targeted, according to sources, are mostly those arrested in 2002, including some who were sent to jail but somehow found their way out and partook in the 2003 elections.
It was also learned that all forensic analyses and reports pertaining to the case that were hitherto inconclusive, will now be investigated properly with the new technology available to the police. Before Ige and Dokubo were killed, the likes of Mr. Dele Giwa, Bagauda Kaltho, Tunde Idiagbon, Alfred Rewane, Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua, Kudirat and Abiola M.K.O. Abiola, among others, during the military era. Upon the return of civil rule and preparations for general elections, a host of politicians were gunned down in their prime.
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According to our sources, those assassinated include: Hon. Odunayo Olagbaju, Osun State (2001), Igwe Barnabas, the Onitsha branch chairman of Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, and his wife, Abigail, who were murdered on September 10, 2002. After their assassins had killed them, they ran them over with their car. In the roll call of unresolved assassinations were: Chief Ogbonnaya Uche (a.k.a. OGB – PDP, Imo State, March 2003; Yemi Oni (AD Ekiti State), Dr. Marshall Harry(ANPP), March 2003, Andrew Agom March 4, 2004, Mr. Ikenna Ibor (ANPP Anambra State) March 27, 2003, Hon. Tony Dimegwu (ANPP Imo State), April 30, 2003, Mr. Issa Zaria (ANPP Kwara State), April 2003, Chief Onyewuchi Iwuchukwu (ANPP, Imo State), April 19, 2003, Mr. Luke Shingaba, March 2004, Chief Philip Olorunnipa (INEC, Kogi State), April 2004, and Mr. Esho Egbelu (Cross Rivers State), August 2004. There were also Captain Jerry Agbeyegbe, October 12, 2004, Alhaji Lateef Oramiyan (Ife – Osun State), May 15, 2005, Mr. Anthony Ozioko (PDP, Abuja), July 27, 2005, Mr. Patrick Origbe (PDP, Delta State), June 3, 2005, Mr. Felix Eboigbe (Edo State), August 2005, July 2006; Chief Jesse Aniku (ACD Plateau State), Engr. Funsho Williams (PDP, Lagos State), July 27, 2006, Dr. Ayodeji Daramola (PDP, Ekiti State), August 14, 2006, Charles Nsiegbe, November 21, 2009, Mr. Ayo Omorogbe, Sule Ugbagwum, Bayo Ohu, an assistant Editor with The Guardian, Godwin Agboroko of This Day, and Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde, the Principal Private Secretary to Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who was murdered at about 1.00am on Friday, May 4, 2012.
Praising the president’s move to reopen the investigation of Bola Ige’s death, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae said: “We thank God and we thank him (Buhari) for it. It is a national embarrassment for the former Attorney-General to be killed and we are not able to investigate and find out the killers and bring them to justice. So, we hope the new investigation will be successful so that we can have greater confidence in our security and justice system. It shouldn’t be limited to Ige and Dokubo.
Alhaji Balarabe Musa, also commended the federal government for taking this bold step and called for the setting up of a Human Rights Commission to probe all fundamental human rights abuses. It is a commendable thing but not only that, they should probe all fundamental human rights abuses.