Kamarudeen Ogundele, Ado Ekiti
A former member of the House of Representatives, Bamidele Faparusi, has hailed the judiciary for freeing persons standing trial for the murder of the former chairman of the National Union of Road and Transport Workers, Chief Omolafe Aderiye.
They are Adebayo Aderiye, Adeniyi Adedipe, Sola Durodola, Kayode Ajayi, Oso Farotimi, Sola Adenijo and Rotimi Olanbiwonnu. The seven are members of the opposition All Progressives Congress.
Aderiye, an ally of Governor Ayodele Fayose, was killed on September 25, 2014 in the Ijigbo area of Ado-Ekiti.
The trial judge, Justice Lekan Ogunmoye, held that the prosecution failed to prove the complicity of the accused persons in the murder of Aderiye.
Reacting to the judgment on Tuesday, Faparusi called on the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, to re-investigate the matter to find the killers.
He said, “It is no longer news that the accused persons were implicated to face criminal prosecution and probably go to jail by the government of Fayose just to get them out of circulation because of their enormous political relevance in Ekiti.
“There were revelations that some aides of the governor forced the police to change the original statements of these innocent people and replaced them with ones that were implicating; that was a nefarious and criminal act that must be investigated by the police and the DSS.
“Let me state clearly that the matter shouldn’t be allowed to end here, I advise those implicated to proceed to court to get justice.”
Faparusi noted that those freed had been pronounced prisoners of conscience and therefore must seek justice and claim damages from the government for making them to be incarcerated for long.
“Nigeria is operating a constitutional democracy which places high premium on the sanctity of human lives and Aderiye’s death must not be allowed to go the way of the late Chief Bola Ige, Chief Harry Marshall and other politically-motivated killings in Nigeria,” he said.
Reacting, the Special Assistant to Governor Ayodele Fayose, Mr. Lere Olayinka, advised Faparusi to mind his business and leave the police to do their work.
“If he is looking for a cheap political leverage he should look elsewhere because we are in government for a serious business.
“Faparusi is not the police and he is certainly not the court, so what is his fuss?”
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Source: Punch
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