A Scam And A Murder Of Bola Ige||Femi Macaulay

For the umpteenth time, the unsolved murder of former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Chief Bola Ige was recently in the news. He was shot dead at his home in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, 22 years ago, on December 23, 2001.  He was 71.

Tragically, the case had gone cold because those who should have pursued its resolution were ultimately cold in their approach to finding the killers and possibly the puppeteers behind the scenes.

The puzzling murder case came up yet again following Nobelist Wole Soyinka’s intervention in the corruption-related case involving a former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye, who was arraigned in Abuja by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in connection with a $6bn Mambilla hydropower project contract.

 Soyinka fiercely objected to the court order that Agunloye be remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre, pending resumption of his case, saying it prompted “justifiable, high-level concern for his safety.”

According to Soyinka, “Bola Ige’s murder was not unconnected with the Mambilla scam. Olu Agunloye worked closely with me, both within and outside routine police motions, to unmask Ige’s killers. It would therefore amount to unpardonable complacency to propose that there are no forces sufficiently desperate to accord him the same fate as Bola Ige. That goal is made easier by the abrupt decision to remand him in prison.” This protest did not stop Agunloye’s detention at Kuje. He was released last week after meeting his bail condition. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

 It was revealing that Soyinka linked Ige’s murder with the Mambilla scam. Ige was Minister of Power and Steel from May 1999 to January 2000, before he became Minister of Justice. What was the connection between the scam and the murder?

Notably, Ige’s protégé and former governor of Osun State Chief Bisi Akande captured Ige’s murder in his autobiographical book, My Participations, launched in December 2021, 20 years after the killing. He drew attention to the case again. Akande was governor of Osun State at the time Ige was murdered under the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration. 

 ”As was his custom, Ige was preparing to spend the Christmas with his people in Esa-Oke where he held the traditional title of Asiwaju (leader),” Akande says in the book.

“He would normally hold a feast on Boxing Day, December 26, and all of us his friends would join him to celebrate.

“That day would be an open house and all members of the Esa-Oke community would troop to Ige’s expansive compound.

“So, by the time Ige entered Ibadan, preparation for Christmas at Esa-Oke was in top gear.

“Most of his personal staff, especially those in the kitchen, had moved to Esa-Oke to await his arrival.

“Instead of going to Esa-Oke, Uncle Bola decided to spend the night in Ibadan.

“He went to his junior brother, Sir Dele Ige, to have dinner and then, retired home.

“His wife, Atinuke, was waiting for him. As soon as he got home, his security details and personal staff, learning that they would not be travelling to Esa-Oke again, went out to look for dinner at a nearby restaurant as soon as they dropped their boss.

“Shortly after they left, some gunmen invaded the Ige residence.

“The house was at the end of the street. Behind it was a swamp of an undeveloped bush that terminated in a dead-end.

“They overpowered the only gateman who had been working with Uncle Bola before he took up the ministerial appointment with Obasanjo and marched him upstairs.

“All the doors were opened and they soon accosted their quarry in his bedroom.

“There, they shot him and fled. His wife, who was with him, was locked up in the toilet.

“Muyiwa came in shortly and discovered the horror.”

 Ige’s son, Muyiwa, lives with the memory of the horrific killing. Akande also recounts a telephone conversation with then President Obasanjo shortly after the murder.  

“Now, you see the lapses in your security! Look at what happened to Bola lge,” Obasanjo was quoted as saying.

“How can you say lapses in my security when Bola lge was killed in lbadan?

“I rule in Osun State! I am not the Governor of Oyo State!

“When his (lge’s) cap was removed at the Ife Palace during your wife’s chieftaincy ceremony, what did you do about it?”

Akande says Obasanjo hung up. The conversation showed the tensions of the time. The background information on Ige’s humiliating experience at the Ife palace also conveyed a context of contention.   

 It was clear enough that the incident was an assassination. It happened in the middle of Obasanjo’s first four-year term as president. Obasanjo was reelected for a second term, and was president for eight years. This means that he had about six years to find Ige’s killers.

 Ige was a significant figure in the Obasanjo presidency, not only because of the weight of his position but also because of his political weight. Obasanjo was expected to get the killers at all costs. He should have been sufficiently embarrassed that such a high-profile member of his administration was killed in such a manner that suggested contempt for the law. His failure to solve the murder remains a massive minus both for him and the government he headed.    

Ige’s tragic murder resulted in another tragedy, the death of his wife following signs that the investigation was going nowhere. Justice Atinuke Ige died “within 16 months” of her husband’s assassination, their son observed, saying “She died of a broken heart.”

She must have sensed that the murder case had reached a dead end when a major prosecution witness, Andrew Olofu, who was Ige’s private security guard, suddenly changed his testimony. He was said to have previously identified one of the killers in an identification parade and had also signed a written statement regarding that.  

Then the unexpected happened. The same witness was later reported saying in court that he could not recognise any of the three gunmen that invaded Ige’s residence “because at that time, I was in a state of confusion and fear had gripped me.”  

Sadly, there is still public confusion about Ige’s murder. The Bola Ige for Justice Centre organised a memorial symposium in Lagos on the 20th anniversary of the incident, lamenting “two decades of injustice.”   

It is unclear who murdered Ige, and why it was necessary to murder him. It is unclear why the Obasanjo administration failed to get to the bottom of his murder. It is unacceptable that there is still no clarity.  

It was disturbing that Ige’s ghost reappeared. He deserves justice. Will he ever get justice?

Source: The Nation