Daily Independent Online.
*
Monday, July 05, 2004.
Ige: No justice for the
Justice Minister
At last, human justice, the one that would have been
witnessed by all and sundry, has finally eluded the formal Justice Minister,
late James Ajibola Ige and some of us his admirers. We all now have to wait for the heavenly justice, the one
I know everybody will see. But it would have been better for God
to consider judgment here on earth at least for a country like Nigeria where
treachery and sadism have become official norms, where beasts in human
clothings have turned joy and happiness to ears and sorrow. Indeed, there is now abundant evidence,
compelling ones, for God to visit mankind and deliver sound judgment on issues
such as that of Bola Ige, even if others would have to wait for the final
judgment.
Or for how long shall we continue to move from sorrow to
sorrow! Losing loved ones in the
most bizarre cruel manner through the instrumentality of state in the hands of
luciferous and barbaric leaders! To worsen our psychological traumas, we are
daily bombarded with stage-managed and shoddy investigations and eventually
doomed trials that always lead to fraudulent legal pronouncements and
justifications. It is amusing, as
it is dumbfounding that a serving minister of justice would be assassinated
with such impunity despite the full compliment of state security around
him. Given that manner of his
death and the intrigues that followed, it is crystal clear to the whole world
that Bola Ige was a victim of state terrorism, a victim of a treacherous
“bosom friend”.
Looking at the trial of the prime suspect, Iyiola Omisore,
from the beginning, a discerning and moral mind would agree that it was doomed
to fail. Were it not for the
public outcry in the first place, the man would not have been put on trial, as
President Obasanjo, the Inspector General of Police and the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) had
variously pronounced him innocent of the heinous crime. But beyond this pronouncements and the
taunted legal victory, this people will still have to answer certain questions
sooner or later. President
Obasanjo, more than any other person would have to confess his roles in the
murder of Chief Bola Ige, no matter how remote, even though that would still
not be enough to remove the wrath of Ige’s blood on his head. His betrayal of Ige was and is akin to
Judas Iscariot’s complicity in the murder of Jesus and what became of
Judas Iscariot is obvious to everybody.
A government that is morally upright and justice-driven
would not allow an accused person in a murder trial to stand for an
election. But against all known
etiquettes, Omisore was fielded while in detention and eventually won the
election as a senator. People have
asked questions as to when did Omisore filled his electoral forms, which
included a sworn affidavit and eventually got screened? Nobody bothered to answer this. Again, the Government offered no
explanation as to why the AIG Ojomo-led investigative panel was disbanded and
the woman sent for an obscure assignment in France. It was as if Ige’s job the panel was doing was not of
national importance. Also, when
Justice Moshood Abass withdrew from the case citing pressures from unexpected
quarters, the government whose Attorney General was killed still did not deem
it fit to probe the legal summersaults.
All these no doubt go to show that government, both at the state and
federal levels are heavily interested in the case to protect certain interests.
Looking at Justice Akin Sanda’s ruling, one can only
conclude that, not only is the law very weak to protect victims of organized
killings and other forms of violence, but that the court itself might not
really be the harbinger of succor for the violated. This issue of proving beyond reasonable doubt is in itself
an unkind assertion. Or how do one
comprehend a situation where somebody is shot dead and another person was seen
in the vicinity with a gun and yet the court says you have to prove that it was
that person with gun who actually shot the victim? Isn’t such circumstantial evidence compelling enough
to convict such an accused for complicity if not outright murder, since such an
accused is not a security agent allowed to carry gun? I do not know of any hired killer and his sponsor who will
go about making known their intention to commit a crime when they know that it
will be used against them. So,
setting Omisore free was the greatest injustice.
For the family of Chief Ige, it was good and in order they
withdrew from the case earlier seeing the insincerity on the part of the
government on the case. My prayer
for them and all of us who are still grieved, just as in MKO/Kudirat case is
that, God Almighty should visit his wrath on all our leaders who are daily
unleashing terror on us. May God
give all of us the fortitude to carry the burden.
To all those who participated in the brutal killing of Chief
Ige and the obstruction of investigation and justice, let it be known to them
that it is not over until it is totally over. To them, I say Eni to pa Igunnugun kii kadun, Enit to pa
Akalamagbo kii kasu, Igbe o leegun, sugbon eni to ba te mole, yoo tiro. Gbogbo Igba to Ogunna bati fi oju kan
omi nii ki bosi rorun o. ki aro o ro mo.
Asee.
* Ojo, a journalist wrote in from Lagos
