Twelve years after the assassination of former Attorney General of the Federation and Governor of the old Oyo State, Chief Bola Ige (SAN), Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State and members of civil rights groups have called for the reopening of the murder case and the re-arrest of prime suspects.

Speaking at a symposium organised by the Bola Ige Centre for Justice in memory of the late legal icon at the University of Ibadan, on Tuesday, Aregbesola, represented by Mr Ibrahim Lawal, the governor's Senior Special Assistant on Legal and Judicial matters, stated that it was imperative for the federal government to revisit the case in order to forestall future occurrences.

According to him, such politically motivated killings which go unresolved are capable of instilling fear on progressives who truly want to move the country forward. "This is not the first time such killings have gone unresolved. Such assassination have always been done to scare people away from legitimately vying for purposeful leadership. And good governance suffers when political killings rein," he said.

He also said that the major hindrance to resolving such cases by the Nigerian Police was the absence of forensic investigation skills and facilities. "One basic problem of our security forces is the absence of forensic and modern investigative skills and facilities. So, the only way the government can give us hope is to empower and strengthen our security forces with the right forensic tools," he added.

While hailing Aregbesola's position, the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum specifically called for the re-arrest of the Oyo State Police Commissioner at the time of the assassination, Zakari Biu, saying that the circumstances that surrounded the killing showed complicity of the state.

In his speech, Comrade Mohammed Abubakar, the deputy national President of the forum, said Bola Ige's murder did not just concern the Yoruba people of the South West, but every Nigerian since the former Minister of Justice was a national figure.

Describing the unresolved murder as a shame to Nigeria, especially as it involved "a whole Minister of Justice and a former Governor", Abubarkar said: "We all know that Bola Ige had the police guarding him. At the time of the murder, they said they all went to eat. This is an indication of the complicity of the state. We can say the state intentionally killed the Minister of justice.

"My opinion is that the commissioner of police in Oyo State then should be arrested. Let him come and give account of what happened," he said.  According to him, even though it was already 12 years, it was not too late to find and prosecute the killers.

"I believe it is not too late to get justice. Justice can be gotten anytime. So, we have met with the Bola Ige Centre for Justice and other civil rights societies. We are going to put pressure on government," he said.

He also said that the efforts made by Festus Keyamo during the trials, which saw the arrest and detention of Senator Iyiola Omisore, should not be thrown away.  He added that for Senator Iyiola Omisore to have been in prison as a suspect, yet contested elections and won, the complicity of the government and the party he represented should be investigated.

He stated that the forum, together with other civil rights groups, have resolved to mount pressure on the federal government and would not stop until the government take action. Present at the lecture chaired by Professor Akinwunmi Ishola, were Comrade Moshood Erubami, Prof Kolawole Ogundowole, Baale Taiye Oyerinde, the Baale of Ekotedo, former Methodist Archbishop of Ibadan, Ayo Ladigbolu and representatives of numerous civil rights groups and student unions.