20 years after, Soyinka challenges Buhari to publish reports of investigations into Bola Ige’s murder
Twenty years after the murder of a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has challenged the Federal Government to show the report of the investigations of the dastardly act.
In a letter to Mrs Funso Adegbola, daughter of the late Ige, Soyinka recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had pledged to open an inquiry into the spate of political murders in the country.
The letter was in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the killing of the politician, who was also the governor of old Oyo State between 1979 and 1983.
Discussants at the event tagged: ”Ige Memorial Symposium”, which was held in Lagos— Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), Dr. Olu Agunloye, Bayo Aina, and Awa Bamiji — urged government to fish out those behind the killing.
Ige, popularly known as Cicero of Esa-Oke, was shot dead on December 23, 2001 at his Ibadan residence, shortly after his security aides allegedly went out for a meal.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo deployed troops in the Southwest to prevent a violent reaction to the murder. He also ordered a probe of the killing, but the suspects were discharged and acquitted.
In the letter, Soyinka pointed out that unsolved crimes do not only lead to a culture of impunity, but put the nation at risk.
Lamenting that “this is a lesson that Nigerian leadership has yet to learn,” the playwright asked Buhari to “share the rewards” of his ”investigations – if any.”
The letter reads: “President Muhammadu Buhari, what has become of your robust pledge to open an enquiry into the spate of political murders that the nation has undergone in recent years?
“Does it all amount to yet another instance of political bravado? While we all accept that all lives should be valued equally, some impose a special responsibility on those in governance. Bola Ige, as the nation’s minister of justice, and United Nations’ civil servant designate was unarguably one such.
“A nation’s honour is in question and remains so until the hour of closure. Thus, she must never relent in demanding an explanation for his brutal murder, expose the perpetrators, identify the conspirators and reinstate the broken lines of justice.
“At the very least, we need a formal declaration regarding those who displayed an abnormal interest in the fates of those accused, to a level of proven, documented interference both in the investigative process and within the judiciary.
“I am not alone in having written and lectured on these sordid aspects that fuelled the subversion of justice. There are surviving witnesses.”
