Governor Adams Oshiomhole
Onwuka Nzeshi
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, has given reasons for the delay in charging any suspect to court on the gruesome murder of Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde, the former Private Secretary to Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State.
The disclosure came same day, Oshiomhole appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions and insisted that the police bungled the investigations into the murder incident which occured in May last year.
Oshiomhole recalled the circumstances leading to the death of Oyerinde and for the umpteenth time accused the police of doing a shoddy job.
Adoke who gave the explanation Wednesday at a sitting of the House Committee on Public Petitions, said no one has been prosecuted over the murder case because of the conflicting reports submitted by the Nigeria Police and the Department of State Security on their investigations into the incident.
The Attorney General of the Federation who was represented by Mr. O. T Olatigbe, a Deputy Director in the Ministry of Justice, said that the conflicting reports have left the government in a dilemma over which of them was the truth.
According to him, the AGF was confused because each of the institutions that conducted investigations is parading different suspects and it had been difficult to determine which should be charged to court for the murder.
The Chairman, House Committee on Public Petitions, Hon. Uzo Azubuike (PDP/Abia), expressed disappointment at the revelation and wondered where the country was going if the security agencies and the AGF could be in such a helpless situation.
It could be recalled that two sets of suspects were arrested in connection with the murder. These suspects are currently in police detention awaiting directives from the office of the AGF to take a decision on which set should face the law.
Otaigbe said that the AGF was already studying the police report on the incident before the DSS report came and threw them into confusion.
According to him, both reports appeared convincing going by their contents.
In a separate presentation, the Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary, Edo State Ministry of Justice, Mr. Oluwole Iyamu, also faulted the report of police investigations into the murder.
Iyamu accused the police of presenting a report that was untenable.
He said that contrary to the normal course of events, both the suspects and the weapons paraded by the police that the police as evidence were already in police custody before the day Oyerinde was killed.
The police, however, denied doing a shoddy job.
Mr Peter Gana, a Deputy Inspector General of Police who was at the hearing, described Oshiomhole's accusations as baseless and insisted on the validity on the report of its own investigation on the matter.
Director General of the State Security Service (SSS), Ekpeyong Ita, told the committee how the service used details of the IMEI numbers of Oyeride's phones that were stolen by his assailants to trace and arrest them.
He disclosed that the phone particulars were obtained from mobile phone service providers to which Oyerinde subscribed while alive.
Ekpenyong said that the phones were sold out to unsuspecting members of the public as fairly used handsets.