Date Published: 02/12/10

Find Bola Ige, DIPO DINA, Ogbonnaya Uche’s Killers, HURIWA charges AGF 

Pleased with the appointment of one of Nigeria’s most prominent litigation lawyers Prince Adetokunbo Kayode (SAN) as Nigeria’s new Federal Attorney General and minister of Justice, a charge from the Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has gone to him to partner with the minister of police Affairs and the office of the Inspector General of police to uncover the circumstances, arrest and prosecute killers of erstwhile Federal Attorney General Chief Bola Ige (SAN) assassinated December 23 rd 2001. 

HURIWA the Democracy inclined and development focused non-governmental organization in a statement by its national Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko canvassed the composition of a high powered judicial and investigative commission headed by the new federal Attorney General to be tasked with the mandate of uncovering the circumstances and the individuals remotely or closely connected with the dastardly act of the assassination of the then serving Federal Attorney General Chief Bola Ige (SAN) so as to rectify and redress a fundamental damage the action did on the international image of Nigeria. “The killing of Bola Ige, the then serving nation’s chief law officer graphically painted Nigeria in the international community as a nation that tolerates impunity and flagrant abuse of the principle of the rule of law”, it stressed. 

Huriwa also charged the new federal Attorney General to vigorously work to ensure that the killers of the Ogun state-based opposition politician Otumba Dipo Dina, the 2003 senatorial candidate of the All Nigerian Peoples Party in Orlu, Imo state Chief Ogbonnaya Uche, the erstwhile Deputy Politics Editor of the Guardian Bayo Ohu and other related cases of suspected political killings since 1999 are arrested, prosecuted and punished in compliance with the principle of rule of law.   

Besides, the Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria stated that one way the current administration can regain the confidence of Nigerians in its’ capacity to discharge the fundamental obligation of the provision of the constitutional rights of security of the lives and property of the citizenry is for the new Federal Attorney General to work closely with the Attorneys General of the thirty six states to ensure that masterminds and active participants in all the previous religious, ethnic or political violence and upheavals resulting in the mass killings of thousands of Nigerians, are arrested, prosecuted and punished for their crimes against humanity so that the current situation of impunity will be eradicated. 

The Rights group advocated the setting up by the Federal Attorney General of an enlarged panel of eminent Judicial and security experts including respected leaders of the organized civil society to do a compilation on behalf of the Federal Government, of all the previous crises from all across Nigeria since 1999 that democracy returned to Nigeria in a bid to identify all those that were killed in the various unjustifiable ethno-religious upheavals and to work out modalities for their immortalization and payment of compensation to the survivors. 

According to HURIWA: “the unfortunate killings of over fourteen thousand Nigerians in the different unjustifiable and barbaric religious and ethnic violence since 1999 is a clear manifestation of the failure of the previous and current administrations to perform the fundamental constitutional role enshrined in section 14(2) (b) to the effect that “it is hereby declared that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.” 

The Rights group said that the international image of Nigeria will continue to nose dive so long as the government fails to bring to justice, all those indicted for the orgy of mass killings that took place in Nigeria in the last decade even as it reminded the new Federal Attorney General that in view of the provision of section 150 (1) of the 1999 constitution which makes him the Chief law officer of the Federation it is imperative that he drives the momentum for the fulfillment of the fundamental obligation of government to provide security of lives and property to the citizenry.