Soyinka raises concern over remand of former Minister, Agunloye, cites past tragedy

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka has raised concerns about the recent remanding of former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye, in Kuje Correctional Centre while awaiting trial on corruption charges.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Soyinka questioned the wisdom of this decision, drawing a disturbing parallel to the 2001 assassination of former Minister of Justice, Bola Ige.

Agunloye, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, was presented before the Federal High Court earlier that day. The presiding judge ordered his remand in Kuje, pending the issuance of bail. This decision, however, has drawn criticism from Soyinka, who expressed anxieties about Agunloye’s safety in the correctional facility.

“Dr. Olu Agunloye, we learn, was finally charged to court today. The case was adjourned, and the presiding judge, in his or her wisdom, proceeded to remand the accused in Kuje prison, pending resumption of his case.

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“I wish to alert the nation, and the government that there exists a justifiable, high-level concern for his safety. His predecessor in office, the late Chief Bola Ige, was murdered in his bedroom by professional assassin even while his police protection detail took time off, all at the same time, to a nearby eatery. Till today, those mystery killers have yet to be identified, arrested, and tried.

“I have made it clear, even as recently as a few weeks ago, that Bola Ige’s murder was not unconnected with the Mambilla scam. Olu Agunloye worked closely with me, both within and outside routine police motions, to unmask Ige’s killers.

“It would therefore amount to unpardonable complacency to propose that there are no forces sufficiently desperate to accord him the same fate as Bola Ige. That goal is made easier by the abrupt decision to remand him in prison.

The Nobel Laurette called for “an independent, non-partisan commission to probe at length and in-depth, in public sittings, this scandal of expanding dimensions that has crippled the energy needs of a nation of two hundred million citizens over the past two decades. The latest development is sinister and alarming.

“Let it be understood that if anything happens to this pivotal witness while in custody, the inference will be heard loud, clear, and unambiguous.”

The EFCC in December 2023, declared Agunloye wanted on an alleged case of forgery and corruption.

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