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From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Ex-Militant leaders under the aegis of the Reintegrated Ex-militants Forum {REF) have attributed the recent armed attack on the Kubwa home of one of the lawyers handling the ₦3.8 billion Presidential Amnesty Programme(PAP)suit as an orchestrated attempt to assassinate the lawyer to frustrate the case.
The lawyer said to be representing 124 beneficiaries opposed to the payment of the questionable ₦3.8billion to the 15 companies was away in Lagos attending the Nigerian Bar Association conference when the attackers visited his home killing one security guard dead and leaving three others injured.
REF in a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari, the National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Mohammed Monguno (rtd.), the Department of State Security (DSS), and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba condemned the attempt to silence the lawyer and called for an investigation.
In the petition signed by REF national coordinator former General Tony Ebikalaide aka “Black Spider” made available to newsmen in Yenagoa at the weekend, it stated that the lawyer days before the attack had spotted a black Range Rover trailing him and also received a call from one of the legal representatives of the petitioners inquiring about his whereabouts.
Ebikalaide who stated that the attackers made the attack looked like a robbery case again accused officials of the Federal Ministry of Justice of frustrating the case to prevent the illegal payment for unexecuted contracts above the tune of ₦3.8billion including the 21 percent post–judgment fees, and special damages which can go as high as ₦5billion to ₦8billion.
“The officials in the judiciary are busy sabotaging the Amnesty office’s efforts in court by redeploying experienced legal officers from the Amnesty office in order to deprive the Amnesty office from putting in proper representation in court,” he said.
REF in their petition to the President, while vowing to take matters into their own hands in the way they “know-best,” said they have lost faith in the security agencies to do their jobs without being compromised by alleged criminals.
They also promise to have a “showdown with officials of the Federal Ministry of Justice to drive home their concerns
The petition read in part, “At present, the Presidential Amnesty Programme, such a delicate federal government intervention agency, has neither Legal Adviser nor any experienced legal officer at a time when there are pending cases worth billions of naira that could bankrupt the Presidential Amnesty Programme. While the legal team of the 124 Amnesty beneficiaries are submitting genuine documents in court to defend the cases, the plaintiffs are boasting of compromising officials in the ministry of justice and anti-corruption agencies, detailing their non-remittance of Pension funds of over 200 Amnesty consultants in over two years.”
