NOPRIN demands arrest of Oyerinde’s murderers, two years after

The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, and President Goodluck Jonathan have been urged to resolve the contradictions surrounding the murder of late activist and Principal Private Secretary to Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde, fish out the actual killers and bring them to justice.
The call was made by the Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria (NOPRIN).
According to NOPRIN, May 4, 2014 makes it exactly two years Oyerinde was murdered by gunmen in his residence in Benin City, Edo State.
The National Coordinator of NOPRIN, Okechukwu Nwanguma, added: “Two years on, the directive by Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to security agencies in Nigeria to ‘fish out the killers’ of late Olaitan Oyerinde and to resolve previous politically-motivated killings in Nigeria is yet to yield the desired result – which is justice for Olaitan, his family and allies.
“Two months after President Jonathan’s directive, and in the weeks close to the Edo State Governorship election, the IGP announced that four suspects had been arrested in connection with the murder of Oyerinde.
“Two weeks after the Edo State Governorship election on July 12, 2012 the police arrested Rev. David Ugolor, the Executive Director of Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice who was also a close friend to the slain Oyerinde.”
Nwanguma recalled that the police claimed that one of the suspects in their custody, David Ugolor, as the sponsor of the murder.
The police paraded David Ugolor and claimed that he was ‘positively identified’ as the sponsor.
Said Nwanguama: “However, the suspect who ostensibly identified him during the identification parade later recanted saying he never knew David Ugolor. He said he was tortured during interrogation to implicate David Ugolor and that he was given his photograph some days before the identification to enable him ‘positively identify’ him.”
Four days after the police arrested Ugolor, the Department of State Service paraded six other suspects in Abuja as having confessed to be Oyerinde’s killers.
The ‎​DSS gave the names of the suspects as: Mohammed Abdullahi, Raymond Origbo, Chikezie Edeh, Saidi Yakubu (aka Imam), Sani Abubakar and Hassan Bashiru.
Nwanguma said: “When the suspects were interviewed by journalists, they said it ‎​was a case of ‘robbery gone awry’, and that they never intended to kill Oyerinde. They told journalists that they did not know any Reverend David Ugolor.
“After weeks of controversy, the police authorities formally charged 10 suspects to court. Two of the suspects, Rev. David Ugolor and William Iserhieren were discharged and acquitted by the court for lack of evidence while the rest have remained in prison custody till date with their further trial stalled.
“Two of the suspects paraded by the police were found to have earlier been arrested by the police for illegal possession of firearms on April 24, 2012, and were in custody of the Edo State Police on May 4, 2012, the night Mr. Oyerinde was killed. A letter from the office of the DPP (Department for Public Prosecution) Edo State Ministry of Justice underlined the inconsistencies of the findings claimed by the police in the murder probe, discrepancies that have triggered allegations that police investigators have worked more to shield, than expose the killers…
“The DPP queried at a point in the letter, citing previous records: “Could a weapon recovered and in possession of the police be confirmed by the suspects to have been used for the commission of the offence.”
Nwanguma explained that the inconsistencies in the police report and the contradictions in the separate investigation reports by the police and the DSSintroduced complications and undermined the effort for justice.
He said that it was expected that the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), would study the reports of the Police and the DSS on the murder of Comrade Oyerinde, resolve the conflicts therein and give appropriate legal advice that will lead to the apprehension and prosecution of the actual perpetrators of the tragic murder.
“It is even more disturbing that despite these inconsistencies and contradictions in the reports of the two security agencies, the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions praised both the police and the DSS at the same time ‘for job well done,’” said Nwanguma.
He continued: “On this second memorial of the murder of Olaitan Oyerinde, NOPRIN calls on President Jonathan to set up an independent panel of inquiry to examine and review the reports of the police and DSS with a view to resolving the contradictions and identifying the actual killers of Olaitan Oyerinde and bringing them to justice.”