President Buhari Orders IGP to Re-Open Murder Cases of Bola Ige and Aminosari Dokubo

President Buhari Orders IGP to Re-Open Murder Cases of Bola Ige and Aminosari Dokubo

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the acting Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to reopen investigation into the unresolved murder cases of Bola Ige and Aminosari Dokubo – former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and ex-Deputy National Chairman, South-South of Peoples Democratic Party, respectively.

According to Vanguard, Buhari gave this directive yesterday, stating that the perpetrators must be apprehended. The murder cases of Bola Ige and Aminosari Dokubo had caused national outrage amongst Nigerians, with citizens calling on the government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to fish out the killers, who have still not been found.

Chief Bola Ige had been shot dead in his bedroom in Bodija, Ibadan on December 23, 2001 after he arrived Ibadan from Lagos that evening. His security officers were said to have excused themselves to go and eat before the incident occurred. On the other hand, Chief Aminosari Dokubo was said to have been ambushed by suspected assassins on his way back from a meeting in Abuja. He was killed near Asaba on October 22, 2004.

The Acting Inspector General of Police has reportedly instituted a high powered investigation team, headed by an Assistant Inspector General of Police, to crack the re-opened murder cases of Bola Ige and Aminosari Dokubo. Several unsubstantiated allegations were made against several politicians and interest groups with regards to the death of Bola Ige. Some believed that he was killed to halt the rise in his political profile while others pointed at his impending probe of the corruption in the power sector of the nation’s economy as the cause of his death. Dokubo’s assassination at the time was alleged to have been caused by certain disagreements with the powers in his political party, prior to the general elections.

Reacting to the development, son of late Chief Bola Ige, Architect Muyiwa Ige, stated that it will be glorious if his family could get  justice after 16 years. He said: “The President is in the right direction. We are happy that all those who murdered our father, including the star witness, will be brought to justice.“