Soludo and the Burden of Delayed Justice – THISDAYLIVE

Twenty-four years after the assassination of the Onitsha branch Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Barnabas Igwe, and his pregnant wife, Amaka, there are renewed calls for the Anambra State Government to revisit the case and bring the alleged perpetrators to justice, Davidson Iriekpen writes

The last is yet to be heard of the gruesome murder of the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Onitsha branch, Barnabas Igwe and his pregnant wife, Amaka, on September 1, 2002, in the Awada district of Onitsha, Anambra State.

Igwe was well known for his sharp legal mind and unwavering public criticism of corruption in the state. His wife, also a lawyer, shared both his ideals and his dangers.

The couple was killed as they drove into Onitsha after returning from an NBA conference in Ibadan.

 As witnesses later told investigators, the couple’s car was intercepted by armed men who dragged them from their vehicle, hacked them with machetes, shot Barnabas, and drove over their bodies before speeding away. 

The assault was swift, calculated, and unrelenting, a message meant not merely to kill but to silence. The incident was soon traced to the toxic atmosphere surrounding Anambra State’s politics at the time. 

Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju’s administration was under mounting criticism for failing to pay civil servants’ salaries and for sponsoring the vigilante group known as the Bakassi Boys. 

Under Igwe’s leadership, the Onitsha branch of the NBA had demanded accountability, transparency, and respect for human rights. His courage, rare and dangerous, made him a marked man. The lawyers’ body and other human rights groups heavily accused the Mbadinuju administration of complicity or of shielding the perpetrators. But Governor Mbadinuju and his administration vehemently denied…