Oyerinde’s murder: Adoke disowns Director’s statement •Says his ministry has nothing to do with the case

 

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.