Governor Rauf Aregbesola and the Deputy National President of Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, Comrade Mohammed Abubakar, yesterday asked the federal government to re-open the murder case of the late Chief Bola Ige.
Speaking at a symposium in Ibadan by the Bola Ige Centre for Justice in memory of the late Minister of Justice, the duo also demanded the re-arrest of prime suspects in the case and the Oyo state Commissioner of Police as at the time of the murder.
Aregbesola, on his part, said there was the need for federal government to revisit the murder case in order to forestall future occurrences as such a politically motivated killings if not resolved are capable of instilling fear on progressives who truly want to move the country forward.
He said: “This is not the first time that such killings have gone unresolved. Such assassination has always been done to scare people away from legitimately vying for purposeful leadership. And good governance suffers when political killings rein.”
Speaking, through his Senior Special Assistant on Legal and Judicial matters, Mr Ibrahim Lawal, the governor noted that the major hindrance to resolving such cases by the Nigerian Police was the absence of forensic investigation skills and facilities, saying “the only way the government can give us hope is to empower and strengthen our security forces with the right forensic tools.”
Deputy National President of Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, Comrade Mohammed Abubakar, emphasised the need for the re-arrest of the Oyo State Police Commissioner at the time of the murder, alleging that the circumstances that surrounded the assassination of Chief Bola Ige pointed to the complicity by the state.