There is something terribly disturbing about our justice system. The rule of law is now being distorted, savaged, abused, treated with contempt, trampled upon with callous indifference.
There is palpable uncertainty everywhere as no one is sure when and how right prevails over the festering wrongs, and how and the scale of Justice prevails in sweeping latitude.
This cannot continue. The rule of law is the very pivotal balance of the justice system. It is the primary anchor that holds democracy together.
Without the strict adherence to the sacrosanct largeness of the rule of law, without the natural guidance of the enlightened spectacle of societal thematic truth, we are all endangered, democracy itself becomes wobbly, teeters upon the cliffhanger of ruin.
But this should never happen. We must all defend and protect this hard-earned democracy. We can’t fold our hands and pretend a stoic indifference while the normative essence of the democratic order is gradually being trampled and dragged in the mud.
No doubt, there are intimations of danger and overt erosions of justice here in our little orbit of Lagos State. The Shakespearean wisdom still holds true: “There is something rotten in Denmark.”
The erosion of justice that concerns me today and that should concern all progressive and enlightened citizens is about the dark, brutal and murderous event that took place on July 21st , 2018 at Igbokusu in Lekki when an innocent man, a good spirited human being, a sincere, devoted party stalwart and family man was murdered in broad day light.
Prince Adeniyi Aborishade would not hurt a fly. He was always the consistent conciliator. He was the boisterous, goodwill, restless pacifier who speaks the truth without bias.
Aborishade appeared animated by a rare beauty of the inner soul, an almost angelic drive which spurred him on, thrusting him forward with powerful stream of conscience.
He was always preaching for peace to reign. He was our Apapa Chairman and the Chairman of all the Chairmen. He was soft hearted. He was always calm, steadfast in his belief, insistent that the PDP family must remain united, strong, stripped of divisive tendencies.
Alas, see what they did to a peacemaker! He was murdered by evil men with premeditated devilry in their hearts. In a cruel, horrible coincidence, Aborishade was murdered exactly 12 years after the Omoluabi Eko, Funsho Williams was equally murdered in July, 2006. The killers of Williams are still unknown. But they can never hide forever. The Law of Karma may be slow, but sooner, Justice always catches up.
The murder of Aborishade is no less devastating. The pains are still fresh. The wounds are still raw and bitterly sore.
Well, the following are the known and established facts in which hundreds of witnesses are all in firm, undisputable agreement. On July 21st, 2018, all PDP Local Government chairmen paid a pre-election, awareness visit to Epe and later to Ibeju-Lekki.
At these two places, there were effective and adequate police presence. The chairman of the party, Mr. Moshood Salvador, equally graced the aforementioned places.
The last port of call later in the afternoon was at Igbokusu in the Eti-Osa Local Government.
For whatever reason, there was no single police presence at Igbokusu, a glaring security aberration which no doubt created a security breach that allowed the murderers of Aborishade to easily and blatantly carry out their apparent premeditated and dastardly act.
We all live in a virtual digital world where hardly nothing escapes the omnipresence probing and intrusive ubiquity of our phone cameras and videos. I want to pause briefly here and play a short four-minute recording which captured the sad degeneration of a peaceful assembly into a mayhem and a horrific murder.
They say pictures don’t lie and that they tell a thousand stories. If that is true, videos even tell more gripping stories.
As you watch, listen carefully to some striking voices and to some declarative, troubling questions.
We have watched this ominous video now! What do we come up with? I heard a voice as you must have all heard the same voice which asked with cockish, absolute assertive query: “Vicky, where are the boys?” And then, there was another one in Yoruba “E ma je kon lo o! “Don’t let them go!”
You do not need to be a rocket scientist to deduce the dark ominous instigations of those queries.
I am not a voice analyst. I am not a forensic investigator. The police have the tools to unmask the person whose voice resonated in obvious sinister directives.
In the malice that ensued, hundreds of witnesses saw how Aborishade, who was a big giant of a Godly man, tackled to the floor, pinned down by several men, held down viciously and then with all his limbs and body virtually chained to the dirt floor, then one of the murderers fired at point blank range to his knee cap, shattering his limbs in a massive, irreparable damage to his knee cap.
According to witnesses, for more than 10 minutes, the gunmen stood over the prostrated body of a vastly-mutilated writhing frame of Aborishade, threatening to kill anyone that dared to come to assist the dying man. Callously prompted by murder, instigated by sheer malignity, overwrought by pure evil – right there in broad day light – the deranged murderers watched Aborishade bled to death like some ghoulish vultures.
The Department of Public Prosecution has released a report which basically discharged all the suspects. The crux of their report is summed up in this paragraph:
“There is no direct evidence in the case file to show that any of the suspects shot or procure or counseled the gunmen to shoot the deceased person. There are accusations pointing to the fact the men who shot the deceased were thugs brought to the scene by page B6 of file (Hon. Moshood Salvador) and there are counter allegations that the men were at the scene at the behest of page B1 (Kehinde Fasasi) and his faction. There is no clear evidence to show who procured the gunmen and whether they acted on their volition.”
This is the summation of the DPP’s report.
Without prejudice to the DPP, the report appears hurried, rash, untidy, deliberately skewed at a predetermined conclusion.
The Department of Public Prosecution has the video you just watched. Was it scrutinized effectively? Who is Vicky? Who was the man who asked Vicky to bring the boys? What was the purpose of bringing the boys? What is the meaning of “E Ma je kon lo o?”
Who brought the thugs to the scene? Who took them away after the murderous evil?.
I do agree with the DPP that the police should continue their investigation to unearth the murderers of Aborishade. But the police in Lagos State Command are not the fit and proper organization to carry out any conclusive, unbiased investigation in this issue.
The family of Aborishade has justifiably internationalised this issue. The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Commission is being notified. The International Criminal Court at The Hague is equally being addressed to help keep a proper watch on the proceedings.
We are appealing to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) to set up an impartial Special Investigation Panel to probe vigorously into the circumstances and the culprits and their sponsors that killed Aborishade.
We live in a society of law and order. Justice is the first pivotal organ of all enlightened societies. Once the State cannot protect anyone of us, whether big or small, there will be a gradual degeneration into the Hobessian State of anarchy where “Life will be short and brutish.”.
We must all speak up for Abosirshade. Our silence will be complicitous. We all now live in a global village. From vast Tundra of Russia to the plains is Serengeti, nothing could be hidden anymore. Everyone is now accountable to the court of international opinion. There are sanctions for all our actions
Finally, I want to use this occasion to launch a Memorial Trust Fund for Aborishade so as to ensure that his family will never be abandoned and that this good man did not die in vain. I am also using this opportunity to ask all Good men and women, regardless of party affiliation, to contribute to this worthy cause.
May the good Lord protect all of us in these dangerous times. I thank you and God Bless.
Chief Olabode George,
Atona Odua of Yorubaland,
Monday August 27, 2018.
