President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the acting Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Ibrahim Idris, to reopen investigations into the murders of former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Bola Ige, and one time Deputy National Chairman, South-South, of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Aminosari Dokubo, in order to bring perpetrators of both crimes to justice.

It would be recalled that Bola Ige was murdered in his home in Bodija, Ibadan, on the evening of December 23, 2001, after his security details had sought permission from the former Attorney General to go and eat.

The Vanguard newspaper reports that IGP Idris has assembled a crack team to be headed by an Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG, in order to unravel the mystery behind the death of the politician and former governor of Oyo State.

Several unsubstantiated allegations were made against several politicians and interest groups following Ige’s murder, with some saying that he was killed to halt the rise in his political profile, while others said it had to do with his impending probe of the corruption in the power sector of the nation’s economy.

The late PDP Deputy National Chairman, Aminosari Dokubo, on the other hand, was said to be returning to his base from Abuja on October 22, 2004 when he was waylaid and killed by suspected assassins near Asaba, the Delta State capital.

Dokubo’s assassination at the time was alleged to have been caused by certain disagreements with the powers that be in his political party, prior to the general elections.

Reacting to the development, Ige’s son, Muyiwa, said that it would be a thing of joy if the family could get justice 16 years after their father’s murder, adding that he was certain from the advent of the present administration that the matter would be resurrected.

“To God be the glory. It’s a new day; we are happy, we will get justice after 16 years. We are happy that all those who murdered our father, including the star witness, will be brought to justice. It’s good news,” Muyiwa said.
The killing of the two personalities sparked national outrage at the time, with Nigerians calling on the then Olusegun Obasanjo-led administration to fish out the killers who, sadly, are still at large.