Soyinka Urges Tinubu to Investigate Unresolved Killings

At the 28th Wole Soyinka Lecture Series held in Port Harcourt, Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka called on President Bola Tinubu to fulfill his promise to revisit unsolved cases of assassinations and extrajudicial killings in Nigeria.

Soyinka emphasized the importance of addressing the killing of Deborah Samuel, a student at Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, by Muslim extremists in 2023, and the shooting of 28-year-old Mene Ogidi by a policeman in Delta State. He criticized the judiciary for failing to uphold justice and warned against selective justice, noting the swift apprehension of the policeman in Ogidi's case compared to the lack of immediate action in Deborah's murder.

The lecture, themed “Reclaiming the Nigerian State through Accountability, Justice and Civic Courage,” was chaired by Chief Timi Alaibe, former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission. Soyinka urged citizens to demand accountability and justice for victims of violence and to honor those who have lost their lives due to state deficiencies.