THE
Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister Justice, Mohammed Bello
Adoke (SAN), on Thursday dissociated himself from the statement credited
to a Deputy Director, Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mr Thompson
Olaitigbe, to the effect that the ministry was confused on what to do with the
conflicting investigation reports on the gruesome murder of the Principal
Secretary to the Edo State Governor, Olaitan Oyerinde.
Adoke, however, stated that his office had
nothing to do with the investigation of Olaitan’s murder.
In a letter to the Chairman, House of
Representatives, Committee on Public Petitions, Adoke stated that his ministry
had considered the powers and duties of the State Security Services vis-a-vis
the powers of the police and had come to a conclusion that it was the police
that had the power to investigate murder and not the SSS.
He further stated that the Federal Ministry
of Justice had nothing to do with the case, but that it was the Edo State
Government that had the power to prosecute the case.
The letter reads in part, “My attention has
been drawn to the representations made by Mr. O.T. Olaitigbe, Deputy Director,
Public Prosecutions of the Federation on behalf of my office and the Federal
Ministry of Justice at the Public Hearing organised by your Committee on 27th
February 2013 on the alleged complicity and improper investigation in the
murder of Oyerinde Olaitan, an aide to the Edo State governor.
“It has been widely reported in the
electronic and print media that Mr. Olaitigbe while making his presentation to
the Committee, stated among other things that the Ministry of Justice was
confused as a result of the investigation reports it had received from the
Nigeria Police Force and the State Security Service (SSS) which appeared to
have indicted different sets of suspects for the alleged murder of Oyerinde and
that the Ministry could not proceed with the prosecution of the suspects
because of the need to harmonise the two reports.
“I wish to completely disassociate myself
from the comments purportedly made on my behalf by Mr. Olaitigbe as the
comments were at best, a figment of his imagination and very far from the
truth. Mr. Olaitigbe was under firm instructions to inform the Committee that:
“The Federal Ministry of Justice had
examined the powers of the State Security Service as provided by Section
3 of the National Security Act, Cap.N.74 LFN, 2004 and the powers of the
Nigeria Police Force as provided by section 4 of the Police
Act Cap. P.19 LFN, 2004 and had come to the reasoned conclusion that the power
to investigate crimes of the nature under consideration (murder) resides with
the Nigeria Police Force while the power to gather intelligence
lies with the State Security Service, and“(b) murder, the offence
allegedly committed by the suspects is exclusively within the
jurisdiction of the states in the Federation. The Criminal Procedure Act,
Cap., C. 38 LFN, 2004 is very clear on this matter.
“The Federal Ministry of Justice therefore
has no power to prosecute murder cases as murder is a state offence
committed against State law and that the matter was already been handled
by appropriate authorities in Edo State.
“In view of the foregoing clear
instructions and position, I am shocked, embarrassed and utterly disappointed
by the representations reportedly allegedly made on my behalf by Mr. Olaitigbe.
I have accordingly instituted an internal investigation to unravel the mystery
and appropriate measures will be taken to discipline any officer found wanting
in this deliberate propagation of falsehood.
“In the meantime, I wish to assure your
esteemed Members and the general public of the principled stance of my office
on this matter as already elaborated above and to inform you that my office was
never at any material time confused as to the steps to be taken in this matter.
I sincerely regret the misrepresentation and the apprehension that it has
generated in the minds of Honourable Members of the Committee, as well as the
general public.”
Meanwhile, the governor of Edo State,
Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to set up
an independent inquiry to investigate the murder of his late Principal
Secretary, Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde.
The governor who made the call at a
briefing after an investigative hearing into the murder organised by the
House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions said the call became
necessary since both the police and the Department of State Security Services,
DSSS who investigated the case came out with two different conflicting reports
on the murder.
According to him,” I believe that the
President has to set up an independent inquiry preferably through the office of
the National Security Adviser who has overall supervision across security
agencies to pick men and women of integrity who he can trust to establish
between the police and SSS who is trying to cover up the truth.”
While accusing the police of shoddy
investigation, he noted that, “the Police deliberately went out to fish
for innocent people to parade as suspects in this case in order to divert
attention or to criminalize innocent Nigerians.”
He further alleged that the police were
trying to protect the principal suspects in the case by hurriedly
charging innocent persons, claiming that “very senior officers in the
police were working tirelessly to shield those behind the murder of Olaitan.”
The governor said it was out of place to
ask the police to further investigate the suspects handed over to them by the
State Security Service (SSS), since they had mindset on the matter, based on
their previous report.
Source: tribune
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