Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has urged President Bola Tinubu to fulfil his pledge to reopen investigations into unresolved assassinations and extrajudicial killings across Nigeria, saying justice must be served for victims and their families.
Speaking on Friday at the 28th Wole Soyinka Lecture Series organised by the National Association of Seadogs (Pirates Confraternity) in Port Harcourt, Soyinka questioned the fate of the President’s earlier promise to review files on unsolved killings.
He also called for justice in the 2023 killing of Deborah Samuel, a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, who was lynched after being accused of blasphemy, lamenting that those responsible had not been held accountable.
Soyinka further demanded justice for 28-year-old Mene Ogidi, who was allegedly shot dead by a police officer in Delta State, insisting that all perpetrators of unlawful killings should face the law regardless of where the incidents occurred.
He criticised what he described as selective justice, arguing that similar crimes have received different responses from authorities, and urged the judiciary to uphold fairness and accountability.
The Nobel laureate said the lecture served as a reminder of the need to honour victims of injustice, including the six traders reportedly killed by police in Apo, Abuja, in 2025, while calling on Nigerians to continue demanding accountability from government institutions.
In his keynote address, former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, said justice begins with fair policing before cases get to the courts. He expressed concern that about 64 per cent of inmates in Nigeria’s correctional centres are awaiting trial, describing prolonged detention without conviction as a serious failure of the justice system.
Chidoka urged authorities to ensure that justice is based on evidence rather than status or identity, while former Niger Delta Development Commission Managing Director, Timi Alaibe, stressed that accountability remains essential for sustainable development and public trust in governance.
