Oyerinde: Oshiomhole Seeks Independent Inquiry

...AGF in dilemma on who to prosecute
ABUJA, February 27, (THEWILL) – Governor of Edo State, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, Wednesday, called on President Goodluck Jonathan to set up an independent inquiry to investigate the murder of his late principal secretary, Olaitan Oyerinde.

The governor made the call at an investigative hearing on the murder of Oyerinde organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions led by Hon. Uzor Azubuike.

" 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," he said.

He said that the police deliberately paraded innocent people to divert the attention of Nigerians.

" The Police deliberately went out to fish for innocent people to parade as suspects in this case in order to divert attention or to criminalise innocent Nigerians, " he said.

According to Oshiomhole, the police were trying to protect the principal suspects in the case by hurriedly charging innocent persons.

He alleged that very senior officers in the police were working tirelessly to shield those behind the murder of Oyerinde.

According to him, it was out of place to ask the police to further investigate the suspects handed over to them by the State Security Service (SSS).

Earlier at the hearing, Mr. O. Olatigbe, a Deputy Director in Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) said that his office had reached a stalemate on the prosecution of the case.

He said the Ministry of Justice was in a dilemma because of the conflicting reports of the Police and the Department of State Services on the same case.

"We received the two reports from the two security agencies on the case but we got that of the Police first. The SSS report only came last week.

"We are still weighing the evidence. We are held down because the prosecutors were not part of the investigation. We are on hold, we don't know what to do, that is the situation for now.

"We need more information or for a separate investigation to be carried out," he said.

He also said they had requested for the weapon, iPad and phone of the deceased to aid their work.

It would be recalled that the two security agencies produced two different sets of suspects for the murder.

Oshiomhole had alleged that the Deputy Inspector- General of Police, Peter Gana, posted to the state to carry out the investigation on the case, deliberately botched the case to shield the real culprits.

Chairman of the committee,Hon. Uzor Azubuike ( PDP-Abia), said, "It is shameful and embarrassing that in a situation like this, the office of the Attorney General will be confused and unable to advise."

Mr Ekpeyong Ita, Director- General of the SSS said that the service was able to use details of the IMEI numbers of Oyerinde's phones that were stolen by the robbers to trace and arrest them.

Gana, in his presentation ,described the petition by the complainant as "a distraction", saying he and his team had followed a thorough process to arrive at the set of suspects the police paraded.