AC Challenge FG Over Dipo Dina's Murder

By Lateef Lawal,Lagos


THE Federal Government has been urged to bring to an end the spate of politically motivated killings in the country.
The call was made by the Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress(AC),Alhaji Lai Mohammed while fielding questions from journalists at the Murtala Mohammed Airport,Ikeja,Lagos on the gruesome murder Monday(night),25,January,2010, of Otunba Dipo Dina,the AC gubernatorial candidate for Ogun Sate in the 2007 elections.
He noted that the inability of government to bring to book the previous high profile killings left much much more to be desired as to the essence of good governance.

Mohammed explained that the reaction of the party could not have come at a better time than now, when government needed to do something about the rising insecurity in the country as a build up to next year's general elections.
The AC scribe explained that the account so far given by the police on how the  2007 Ogun State governorship candidate  was felled was enough indication that there was something to hide.  He accused the police of a smear campaign as part of a script to muddle up investigations into the dastardly killing of the politician, whom he said government has a responsibility to protect his life not minding in whose company he was at the time of death.  Mohammed said : "Frankly speaking, not many Nigerians will be optimistic on the ability or the political will of the police to find the killers of Otunba Dipo Dina and that is not because we have no confidence in our police but that is because of the antecedents of the police. We have at least five high profile political motivated murders in our hands, that are begging to be solved for five six years on now. We have that of the late Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige.If the chief law officer of the country can be so brutally murdered, and no body is apprehended, then what is going to happen to lesser human beings.I think that happened in the Christmas of 2001 that’s close to a decade now and nothing, and we have that of Harry Marshal.  'We have that of Dikibo, we had that of Funso Williams and we begin to wonder whether the police can solve this one.Common sense will tell you that for a high profile murder like Dina Dipo, there must be some serious state backing, I mean no common criminal will walk up and go and attack a politician without assurance or backing from the highest quarters just like it happened with Rilwane and co and already the police is on a smear campaign. I was reading this morning in the papers that the lady who was in the vehicle was on a spiritual cleansing mission. How does that justify his being murdered in that brutal manner?.
It would be difficult for you not to link Dina’s death with his political activities and crusade, it’s for the police to convince us and I believe they are going to have a very uphill task."  On the directive by the Vice President , Goodluck Jonathan, that the Inspector general has been given a week to fish out the killers of the politician, he explained that the," AC does not have any confidence, in such directive because, it has not yielded any positive result in the past.We do not have any confidence in such directive,absolutely not. They, (the government) always talk tough most times you hear the IG relocating from his office in Abuja to the scene of the crime, I am not impressed.And there after nothing happens."