By Innocent Anaba
Two surviving suspects, who have been on trial since 1995, over the murder of National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, chieftain, the late Pa Alfred Rewane, Mr Lucky Igbinovia and Effong Elemi Edu, were, yesterday, acquitted and discharged by a Lagos High Court.

The matter which has been handled by many judges, was finally decided by Justice Olusola Williams, who held that there was nothing to support the case of the prosecution.

Five of the suspects, Ola Obanuso, Sylvester Iyabele, Sunday Ogbeide, Akeem Alli and Sunday Obanobi,  incarcerated over the October 6, 1995 assassination of Pa Rewane, have all died in detention, while Elvis Irenuna was discharged and acquitted last year, following a non-case submission by his counsel, which was upheld by the court.

“It appears to me that all the police did was to visit the venue of the incident and arrest the workers. There was no audience to support the conventional statement of the accused. The prosecution failed toprove the two counts charge,” she said.

The judge consequently acquitted and discharged the accused persons.

At one of the proceedings, Lucky Igbinovia had told the court that he was forced to make the alleged confessional statement attributed to him by the police, saying that he was tied up, while one Corporal Igbinogbere wrote the said confessional statement, which was later signed by the said police officer.

The suspects, Elvis and Lucky, had in the course of the trial-within-trial also denied the confessional statements allegedly made by them to the police, arguing  that they were made under duress.

Led in evidence by their counsel, one of the suspects, Iremuma (now released), told the court that he was employed as an ‘office boy but later turned to be a driver adding that on October

1995, late Pa Rewane sent a message to him that he would be having an important meeting and directed him to report at his house.

According to him, he reported at Pa Rewane’s house located at No 100 Oduduwa Crescent GRA, Lagos at about 7.30am and was writing a note to the Administrative Manager as instructed by Pa Rewane when he suddenly heard noise from the sitting room.

Upon investigation, he said he saw three men arguing with the steward and later discovered that they had an envelope for Pa Rewane and they insisted that it must be handed over to him [Pa Rewane] personally.

Irenuna further informed the court that one of the intruders pointed a gun at his head, raided the whole house and locked them up including Pa Rewane’s wife into a room.

He said, “they left us in the room, but shortly after, we heard gun shots and the intruder drove away. We later went to Pa Rewane’s room and saw him soaked in his own blood. We rushed him to the hospital and I informed Chief Anthony Enehoro (now late) about the incidence because he was bid to attend a meeting with Pa Rewane.”

He further told the court that the doctor later informed them that Pa Rewane died before he reached the hospital as the bullet penetrated through his heart and that he had no chance of surviving the gun shot.