A former commissioner for special duties in Osun State, Dr. Basiru Ajibola, has said it would be absurd for anyone to view the decision by the Federal Government to revisit the murder of a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, as part of the plot to persecute opposition party members.
The FG has also ordered a review of the killing of an ex-deputy national chairman (South-South) of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Aminosari Dikibo.
Ajibola spoke in an exclusive chat with our correspondent in Osogbo while reacting to the order given by President Muhammadu Buhari to the Acting Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, to re-open investigations into the unresolved killings of both Ige and Dikibo.
While commending the Federal Government’s resolve to re-open the murder cases, Ajibola, who is also a lawyer, advised the relevant agencies to handle the two cases with all the seriousness they deserved.
He noted that the directive would be a plus to the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria, arguing that the move by the Federal Government should not be misconceived as a ploy to persecute anyone, but as normal criminal prosecution.
According to him, “It will be shameful, if some people are saying that this move by the Federal Government is a political persecution. It should be seen as criminal prosecution, regardless of who is involved and the political association of such persons.”
Ajibola stressed that it was shameful that a sitting attorney general and minister of justice could be killed and the perpetrators would escape prosecution.
He said, “The fact that the earlier trial went the way it went was a serious indictment of our criminal investigation procedure as well as criminal justice administration.
“My advice to the government this time around is that all the agencies of government should handle the matter with all seriousness. They should do their investigations and prosecutions thoroughly.”
