- ‘How ex-Attorney General and Justice Minister was killed’
Assassinated Nigeria’s ex-Attorney General and justice Minister, Chief Bola Ige intended to resign from the government of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo before he was killed on December 23, 2001, former Osun State Governor Chief Bisi Akande has said.
Akande, in his book, ‘My Participations’, recalled that the late Ige popularly known as Cicero of Esa Oke, confided in him about his plan to leave the federal cabinet shortly before he was gruesomely murdered by yet to be known assassins.
His reason was that the government was not implementing programmes that could benefit the people.
Before being posted to the Ministry of Justice, Ige was Minister of Power and had vowed to ensure a stable electricity supply within six months.
The author also added that Ige’s former deputy governor, who was then the Minister of Internal Affairs, Chief Sunday Afolabi, chided Chief Ige that he should not forget that he was only invited to ‘come and eat.’
Ige was shot dead in his Ibadan, Oyo State capital, residence on December 23, 2001.
Akande, who was Osun State governor at the time, recalled in his book ‘My Participations’ the circumstances in which Ige was killed.
He wrote: “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).
“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.”
Noting that Ige was in the eye of the storm before he was killed on December 23, 2001, Akande recalled the travails of the late Ige with the leadership of the Afenifere, his deputy as governor of Oyo State, Chief Sunday Afolabi, and Alliance for Democracy (AD) members in Osun State.
He also relived the memory of Ige’s harassment in Ife, where his cap was removed by a group of miscreants he said were led by his ex-deputy, Iyiola Omisore.
He said Ige had been led into the inner palace where they would be entertained and was still greeting some of the guests when thugs surrounded him, seized his cap and subjected him to a series of humiliations.
“For a Yoruba elder, removing his cap was the unkindest cut of all. Omisore presided with glee over that episode,” he alleged.
Akande said it took the security detail of Chief Bode George, the then National Vice-Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to rescue Ige from the miscreants and chaperon him into the inner palace.
Ige, Akande wrote, came to Ile-Ife without his security detail as a serving minister.
He came with only his State Security Service (SSS) detail.
The cap was later released to him after the then Ooni threatened to invoke traditional curses on the perpetrators.
In the evening of the same day, Akande recalled, the member representing Ife at the House of Assembly was also killed at a drinking joint in Ile-Ife for allegedly holding onto the money meant for the boys who removed Ige’s cap.
Ige also had issues with some members of the AD in Osun State.
Akande believed the crisis in the party was engineered by the PDP.
The former governor recalled: “He (Ige) was, therefore, facing a rear-guard challenge from his colleagues in the leadership of Afenifere who continued to oppose his participation in the government of Chief Obasanjo.
“Uncle Bola had made it known that he was thinking of resigning from the government because the regime was not implementing agenda that could benefit the generality of the people.
“His former Deputy-Governor and then the Minister of Internal Affairs, Chief Sunday Afolabi, chided Chief Ige that he should not forget that he was only invited to ‘come and eat.’
“Ige was also having problems with some of the leaders in Osun State.
“Though we spoke every day, the last time we met was when he tried to resolve the disagreement between Akinfenwa and Lere Adebayo over the leadership of Ijesaland.
“It was a time around when Professor Tunde Adeniran, the then Minister of Education, was burying his father in Orin-Ekiti and uncle used the opportunity to give me the assignment to restore peace between Akinfenwa and Lere Adebayo because of Akinfenwa’s disagreement with Ijesha leaders.
“He said he knew I was also not in good terms with Akinfenwa but he wanted me to resolve the matter between him and Lere Adebayo so that there would be peace within Afenifere in Ijeshaland.
“Then I said it was an order and that I would do it.
“I went to my friend, Chief Tunji Abolade, in Ikirun. He was our mutual friend.
“I didn’t know Akinfenwa was not happy with me, I told Abolade. I implored him to intervene.
“I said, ‘Please, meet Akinfenwa, whatever he wants me to do, I will do it. This matter must be resolved.’
“Initially, Akinfenwa was proving difficult but in the end, we met him in Abuja.
“Akinfenwa confessed that among other matters he was not happy with me because since I chose Omisore as my deputy governor I had sidelined him.
“The truth was that Akinfenwa preferred Niyi Owolade and he was very unhappy,” Akande said.
The Nation
