Well-known Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has expressed worries about Olu Agunloye, the former minister of power and steel, and his safety while incarcerated in Kuje.
According to Platinum Times, Agunloye was charged with fraud by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday in an Abuja High Court.
The court mandated Agunloye’s incarceration on remand.
In a statement released on Wednesday in response to the development, Soyinka’s spokesperson, Jahman Anikulapo, noted that the late Bola Ige was killed in his bedroom and mentioned that the perpetrators had not yet been apprehended.
He said that Agunloye, a crucial witness in Ige’s case, might be murdered while in custody.
“Dr. Olu Agunloye, we learn, was finally charged to court today, and the presiding judge in his or her wisdom, adjourned the case and proceeded to remand the accused.
“I wish to alert the nation, and the government that there exists a justifiable, high-level concern for Agunloye’s safety.
“I have made it clear that Bola Ige’s murder was not unconnected with the Mambilla scam. Olu Agunloye worked closely with me, both within and outside routine police motions, to unmask Ige’s killers.
“It would therefore amount to unpardonable complacency to propose that there are no forces sufficiently desperate to accord Agunloye the same fate as Bola Ige.
“Let it be understood that if anything happens to this pivotal witness while in custody, the inference will be heard loud, clear, and unambiguous”, Soyinka warned.