Twenty-four years after the murder of former Nigerian Bar Association, Onitsha Branch Chairman, Barnabas Chidi Igwe, and his wife, Amaka Abigail Igwe, a group of senior lawyers and civil society figures has asked the NBA to return the unresolved case to the national agenda.
Law & Society Magazine reported on September 15 that a petition received by the Office of NBA President Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, on September 11 seeks a reopened police investigation, publication of relevant findings of the Anambra State Truth, Justice and Peace Commission and an account of the trust fund established for the couple’s three surviving children. The petition also proposes bringing the matter before the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers.
Barnabas and Amaka Igwe were killed on September 1, 2002, shortly after returning from the NBA Annual General Conference in Ibadan. The subsequent criminal prosecution, The State v. Francis Nzekwe & 10 Others, never reached a final determination. The petitioners say missing records, judicial withdrawals and other setbacks contributed to the case remaining unresolved.
The renewed call is significant because it places two issues before the current NBA leadership: justice for murdered members of the profession and accountability for a welfare intervention created in their aftermath. Importantly, persons previously identified as suspects remain entitled to the presumption of innocence unless guilt is established by a competent court.
Featured Image: Barnabas and Amaka Igwe archival photograph, or a clean NBA/courtroom composite with proper image rights.
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