Delta rejects police report on Dikibo's death
- To charge suspects for murder
From Sunny Ogefere, Asaba
SEVEN months ago, the South-South Vice-Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Aminosoari Kala Dikibo, was killed by some unknown persons.
The incident occurred on February 6, 2004 on Kwale-Ogwashi-Uku Road in Delta State. He was on his way to attend the party's caucus meeting in Asaba, when the assailants struck.
The police in their report linked his murder to armed robbery. The Federal Government later raised a panel to probe the assassination.
But the Delta State government, on whose soil the PDP leader was killed, has queried the police report.
The state's Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Amos Utuama, yesterday in Asaba, the state capital, said: "The death of A.K. Dikibo was not accidental but was intentional. So it cannot be a robbery incident as earlier claimed by police investigation."
Consequently, the state government has resolved to arraign four suspects arrested over the incident before an Ogwashi-Uku High Court. They were initially being tried by a Chief Magistrate Court until it was stalled in June this year.
Utuama said that the trial was stopped because the offences raised in the police investigation outweigh the jurisdiction of the court.
The twist in the trial, from armed robbery to charges of murder, according to Utuama, was due to the recommendations of a Special Judicial Committee set up by his ministry. The panel examined the intricacies of the police findings in the case and advised that it be taken to the High Court.
The commissioner said that the committee unveiled some salient facts that made his ministry to file a consent suit at the Ogwashi-Uku High Court, asking it to take over the case.
Meanwhile, some non-performing contractors are being prosecuted by the state government.
Mobilisation fees amounting to N291 million have already been recovered from the contractors by the government, which took them to court.
About N40 million has also been recovered from over 300 corporate and individual tax defaulters in the state, Utuama said.
The contractors were taken to court for failing to execute projects given to them after collecting the mobilisation fees.
"The exercise of pro-section in court has led to the recovery of N291,377,000," he said.
Utuama further assured that more funds would be recovered from another set of 85 contractors now facing trial in some parts of the state.
He stressed that the time had come when persons doing business with the state should deliver on the terms of such contracts.
The commissioner said that the ministry had spent about N35 million to set up a computerised law library with Internet facilities, new books and local and international law reports.
Another N100 million, he revealed, would be invested in the library next year to enable it meet the needs of the state judiciary.
He said that the ministry was committed to giving meaning to its mission statement: "Justice for Peace," through its programmes aimed at speedy administration of justice in the state.
