IBADAN— AN Oyo State High Court presided over by Justice Atilade Ojo will today deliver his judgment in the conspiracy and murder charges preferred against Adebayo Adedamola, aka Fryo, and six others over the December 23rd, 2001 assassination of Chief Bola Ige (SAN).
Justice Ojo had on September 13th this year adjourned judgment in the celebrated murder case indefinitely after the adoptions of the written addresses of both the prosecution and defence.
Before the trial judge adjourned sine-dine, Amos Akan, steward to the slain Justice Minister, gave a graphic detail of how the former Attorney General of the Federation was killed by yet to be identified gunmen at his Bodija, Ibadan home on December 23rd, 2001.
Mr. Akan who worked with the late Ige as steward between 1997 and 2001 told an Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan that he (Akan) was the one the late Minister sent to the 2nd to 7th accused persons to go and eat after they returned to Ibadan from Lagos.
Mr. Akan, who was subpoenaed as Defence witness in the case preferred against Fryo and six other personal aides of the late Afenifere leader informed the court that he had never met Adebayo Adedamola, aka Fryo in his life.
Giving evidence as defence witness the steward told the trial judge that the late Minister specifically instructed the 2nd to the 7th accused persons to go and eat and return to the house by 9p.m.
Those currently standing trial for their alleged complicity in the assassination of Chief Ige include Fryo, Daramola Ezekiel (SSS detail), Sgt. Oye Oniyanda, (police orderly), Adebayo Adegoke (personal driver), Karimu Lawal (pilot driver) Nelson Kumoye (protocol officer) and Oluwole Ogunjimi (backup driver).
Below is the details of the evidence in Chief of Mr. Akan to the court.
“On December 23rd, 2001, Chief Bola Ige traveled to Lagos and came back around 8p.m with all the security men. I followed him to upstairs. He came back with the 2 - 7 accused persons from Lagos, Muyiwa and Aunty Aduke. Chief Ige gave me N200 to go and buy a bulb. The late Chief Bola Ige told me to tell the 2nd - 7th accused persons to go and eat and to come back by 9p.m. When the late Chief gave the money he asked me to pass the instruction to the 2nd - 7th accused persons. I was the only one with him.
When I was coming back from where I went to buy the bulb, the 2nd - 7th passed me on their way to where they were going to eat. After I finished fixing the bulb, Chief Bola Ige told me to prepare Christmas baskets while I was preparing it, Chief Ige told me to drop it and go and prepare food for him. After I left the room for the kitchen before I could get to the last floor, somebody grabbed me from behind.
I did not know who grabbed me because I thought it was mama’s driver. I used my right hand to hit the person that he wanted to kill me and that what kind of play was that. The person pointed a gun at me and was drawing me to mama’s room, (mama was Chief Bola Ige’s wife). What I felt in my waist was something like a gun or a grip. In the room I saw mama, Muyiwa, mama’s driver, mama’s house girl called Joy, the permanent security called Andrew Olofu (PW5) Bunmi who is mama’s daughter and Muyiwa’s wife together with Muyiwa’s son. I saw all of them on ground in the mama’s room with the two men I did not know.
“Later the man who brought me to the room and the others left us in the room and locked the door. After the men had left, we heard gun shot. At the time, all of us were merely praying calling the name of Jesus. Sometimes later, we heard someone knocking but all of us just kept quiet because we thought it was the men who locked us up who came back. Later we heard another knock then we knew that it was Kayode (Funso’s son) because he called grandma.
“Everybody just stood and shouted that Kayode should open the door and we rushed out. We ran to Chief Ige’s room where we saw him lying on the floor. We took him down stairs and met the 2nd - 7th accused persons on the way downstairs".
Under cross examination by Mr. Bayo Adegbite from the Oyo State Ministry of Justice, the steward told the judge that he did not travelled to Lagos with the Late Ige and that he did not know what transpired between Chief Ige and the six accused persons on their way from Lagos to Ibadan.
