Twenty-four years after the killing of Barnabas Igwe, former chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Onitsha, and his wife, Abigail, former National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chair, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, has questioned why Ken Emeakayi, the principal suspect, continues to walk free.
Besides, Emeakayi whom he said was identified by records as the leader of the operation that killed the couple, Odinkalu said, is currently serving as Special Adviser on Security to Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo.
Speaking during an online interview with Noble Nigeria, a digital media platform, Odinkalu stated that Emeakayi’s name emerged from the records personally reviewed by him while serving on the Truth, Justice and Peace Commission.
Odinkalu, who was chairman of the Anambra State Truth, Justice and Peace Commission, said the commission revisited the case and submitted its report to Soludo in March 2024, describing the appointment of Emeakayi as a ‘blot’ on his administration.
According to him, the report recommended that the state government should reopen the case and take steps to bring Emeakayi and those he allegedly commanded to account.
The Igwes were killed in Onitsha on September 1, 2002, after returning from the NBA national conference in Ibadan. Barnabas, chairman of the NBA Onitsha branch, had been a prominent critic of the administration of Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju, particularly over unpaid salaries to state workers.
At the time that the couple were attacked by armed men, Barnabas and other critics of the state government had received threats shortly, according to reports. The attack became one of the most notorious political killings in Anambra’s history.
The couple were attacked while travelling home, with reports saying the assailants used machetes and firearms and ran over their bodies with their vehicle. Abigail was pregnant at the time. But despite earlier efforts to prosecute those suspected of involvement, the case never reached a definitive conclusion, according to Odinkalu.
“On the basis of the records I reviewed personally, he led the operation,” Odinkalu said.
He said Emeakayi was associated with the Bakassi Boys security structure that operated in Anambra at the time and that an earlier prosecution had resulted in his arrest and detention on a murder charge.
“The court was sacked and there was a prison break in which he was freed, but the trial did not end, strictly speaking. It’s just that the records kind of vanished,” he pointed out.
According to him, the failure to preserve the records contributed to the collapse of the prosecution and made it necessary for the Truth, Justice and Peace Commission to revisit the case years later.
Odinkalu said the commission’s report did not declare Emeakayi guilty, but made clear that there were unresolved questions requiring further action by the government.
“Ken Emeakayi, on the basis of the report of the Truth, Justice and Peace Commission, has questions that remain unanswered,” he said.
The professor said the commission delivered the report to Soludo in March 2024 and recommended that the governor take steps to reopen the case and bring Emeakayi and those he allegedly commanded to account.
He therefore criticised Emeakayi’s subsequent appointment as Soludo’s security adviser in October 2024. “Regrettably, in October 2024, the governor appointed Ken Emeakayi his security advisor,” Odinkalu said. “That is one of the issues I find difficult to let go of as a matter of fact,” he insisted.
Odinkalu said he could not speak for Soludo or explain the reasons behind the appointment, but insisted that the commission’s findings could not simply be ignored.
“The governor has his reasons. I’m not privy to them. But in response to your direct question, Ken Emeakayi, on the basis of the report of the Truth, Justice and Peace Commission has questions that remain unanswered,” Odinkaluexplained.
He also recounted the circumstances surrounding Abigail’s death, saying the records reviewed by the commission indicated that she knew Emeakayibecause he had reportedly been a client of the Igwes’ law firm.
“When Mrs. Igwe saw him in the heat of the attack, she was running towards him when she was hit. And she was pregnant,” he said.
According to him, the Igwes left behind three young children, two boys and a girl, who eventually graduated despite the trauma and hardship caused by the deaths of their parents.
The professor said the unresolved nature of the killings and the subsequent appointment of a person identified in the commission’s records as having led the operation remained deeply troubling to him. The decision was “a terrible blot on the record of the current governor of Anambra State,” he said.
Odinkalu maintained that the commission had completed the assignment given to it by the state government and submitted its findings. “We delivered the report to him. And the report tells him Ken Emeakayi has questions to answer,” Odinkalu said.