The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, has said he and his office are not confused over reports of investigations on the assassination of Olaitan Oyerinde, the Principal Private Secretary to the Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole.
Adoke stated this in a letter dated February 28, 2013, which he wrote to the Chairman, the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions.
In the letter with reference number, HAGF/NASS/2013/VOL.1/2, the AGF dissociated himself from a statement credited to the Deputy Director, Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mr. T.A. Olaitigbe, in the media.
Olaitigbe was reported to have said 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.
The reports were said to have indicted different sets of suspects for the alleged murder of Oyerinde.
Olaitigbe said the ministry could not proceed with the prosecution of the suspects because of the need to harmonise the two reports.
But in his letter to the committee, Adoke said, “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.”
The minister stated that Olaitigbe was under firm instructions to inform the committee that the 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.
He said the ministry 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.”
According to him, murder, the offence allegedly committed by the suspects, is exclusively within the jurisdiction of the states in the federation.
Meanwhile, an Edo State-based civil society group, Coalition to Save Nigeria, has expressed misgivings over Wednesday’s House of Representatives Petitions Committee’s public hearing on police investigation into the murder of Oyerinde.
The House committee’s public hearing into the May 4, 2012, killing of Oyerinde drew Governor Oshiomhole, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Abdulwahab Umar, his TUC counterpart, Peter Esele and human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), before the committee members.
Commending the House for holding a public hearing on the matter, CSN in a statement by its National Chairman and National Secretary, Dr. Philip Ugbodaga and Matthew Edaghese, respectively, said it was saddened by the trend, saying the hearing had further muddled up the situation.
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