Soyinka demands report on Bola Ige’s murder, Others – TheNigerialawyer

* Ensure there are no sacred cows, Jega tells EFCC

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, yesterday declared that
the fight against corruption would be incomplete without
unravelling the high-profile murder cases like the case of the late
Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige.

He said the death of the former chief law officer of the
federation was masterminded by forces of corruption.

Soyinka’s position came as the former Chairman of the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood
Jega, urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to
demonstrate that there are no sacred cows in the fight against
corruption.

Soyinka, who spoke on the occasion of the United Nations
Anti-corruption Day held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja tagged
“Zero Tolerance for Corruption” said Chief Ige and other victims of
high profile assassinations were killed by the forces of
corruption.

“What has happened to the investigation of such high profile
murders of Chief Bola Ige and others?

“If we do not resolve them, fighting corruption would be futile
because they were murdered not because of political rivalry but by
forces of corruption”, he said.

On the re-arrest of the Convener of #RevolutionNow Movement,
Omoyele Sowore, Soyinka said it was important that freedom of
expression as enshrined in the Constitution is guaranteed.

He said the human rights situation in the country was such that
required urgent attention.

“If I say revolution now, am I going to be thrown into prison
because those in charge are afraid of the word revolution?”, he
queried, stating that the walk against corruption organised by the
EFCC from its office in Wuse to the Presidential Villa should be
seen as a “Long Walk to Freedom”.

“Let the walk today between the citadel of anti-corruption and
the seat of the executive arm of government be the long walk to
freedom. What we are doing now is revolution somewhere or the
other”, he said.

In his remarks, the former INEC boss, Prof Jega called on the
anti-graft agency to intensify the fight against corruption and
ensure that there are no sacred cows.

“Today is a day to restrategise on the cancer of corruption, a
day of sober reflection. The EFCC should intensify the fight
against corruption because what we see is that the more efforts
they make, the more daunting the task.

“EFCC should continue to demonstrate that there are no sacred
cows. For the federal and state levels, we need to see that our
resources are judiciously applied”, he said.