Soyinka to Tinubu: Reopen Unresolved Killings, Assassination Cases Nationwide

Nobel laureate Professor Wole Soyinka

Soyinka to Tinubu: Reopen Unresolved Killings, Assassination Cases Nationwide

Nobel laureate dedicates 2026 lecture to victims of state violence, warns that collective silence fuels impunity, as he demands justice for Deborah Samuel, Mene Ogidi, and others.

Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to fulfil his 2023 campaign promise by revisiting unresolved cases of assassinations and extra-judicial killings across Nigeria. Soyinka made the appeal on Friday at the 28th Wole Soyinka Lecture Series organised by the National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The lecture, themed “Reclaiming the Nigerian State through Accountability, Justice and Civic Courage,” was chaired by former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Chief Timi Alaibe.

Soyinka dedicated the 2026 edition of the annual lecture to victims of extra-judicial killings and state excesses, declaring that Nigeria’s greatest failure is not only the murders but the collective silence that allows perpetrators to escape justice. “Through these remarks, I pay honour to those who have lost their lives because of the deficiencies of the state which have led to the devaluation of human life,” Soyinka said. He specifically honoured victims of some of Nigeria’s most disturbing cases of violence, including 18 Ughelli residents allegedly killed by state agencies, a young man reportedly shot dead by a policeman in broad daylight, Deborah Samuel, who was lynched and burnt alive by a mob in Sokoto State in 2022, and Mene Ogidi, a 28-year-old man allegedly shot dead by a police officer in Delta State. “Today is dedicated to the 18 Ughelli residents butchered by state agencies for no reason at all, simply for minding their own business; to the young man shot dead in broad daylight by a policeman while under suspicion; and to Deborah, the youth hunted through the city by her own classmates, necklaced and set ablaze,” he said. Soyinka also honoured the six police officers killed in Apo, Abuja, describing the lecture as a reminder of the many unresolved injustices in the country.

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Soyinka expressed concern that one of Deborah Samuel’s alleged killers reportedly displayed the matchstick used to set her ablaze publicly without facing justice years after the incident. He contrasted that with the swift arrest of the police officer accused of killing Mene Ogidi, saying the differing responses reflected selective justice. “It’s dedicated to individuals, the youths, like Deborah, who was killed, who was butchered by her own classmates, hunted through the city, necklaced and set on fire. But that is not the crime. That really is not the crime,” Soyinka said. “The crime is the silence of the rest of us, that such a thing is possible, and that the killers of that girl can actually go on television, hold up a match, and say this is the match with which I set her on fire. And there the system of justice fails us completely,” he added. He urged Nigerians to demand justice and ensure that alleged perpetrators of extra-judicial killings do not escape punishment.

Soyinka reminded Nigerians that President Tinubu, upon assuming office, requested files relating to unsolved assassinations and extra-judicial killings. “Watch with me so that we can force the government to bring up all the files. When there was a government retreat, you remember? The incoming president said, ‘I want all the files of all the unsolved assassinations, killings, extra-judicial killings.'” “What has happened to those files? I want you to join me in asking President Tinubu to say, ‘We want you to dig up those files. We want to know what happened, why it happened,'” Soyinka said. Soyinka warned that successive failures to prosecute those responsible for unlawful killings had emboldened criminals and weakened public confidence in the justice system. He described the persistent failure to secure justice for victims as one of the country’s gravest moral crises, insisting that silence in the face of brutality was itself a form of complicity.

Soyinka called on President Tinubu to end all forms of killings by state actors and ensure that those responsible for abuses are held accountable. He declared that human life has been dangerously devalued in Nigeria, adding that the inaction of citizens in the face of repeated human rights violations has emboldened those who abuse state power. The Nobel laureate dismissed critics who accuse him of provoking religious tensions whenever he speaks against injustice, insisting that defending human life transcends religious, ethnic, or political divides. “Sessions like that in Port Harcourt are vital, precisely, to remind Nigerians that the human unit is the least common denominator and the most important element of the community,” he said.

Delivering the keynote address, former Minister of Aviation Osita Chidoka argued that justice begins long before a matter reaches the courtroom. According to him, justice starts from the moment police officers determine whether complaints are investigated fairly or ignored because of influence, power, or social status. Highlighting the challenges confronting Nigeria’s justice and correctional systems, Chidoka disclosed that about 64 per cent of inmates in custodial centres—more than 50,000 Nigerians—are awaiting trial despite not being convicted of any offence. “Each of these 50,000 is a life in suspension, a job lost, a family destabilised, someone’s health failing. When the state causes that delay, and citizens pay for it in lost liberty, the delay is not inefficiency; it is a form of violence carried out by the state itself,” he said. He insisted that justice must apply equally to every Nigerian, regardless of political affiliation, ethnicity, religion, or social standing.

The case of Mene Ogidi, a 28-year-old man shot dead by a police officer in Delta State on April 26, 2026, has drawn widespread condemnation and renewed concerns over police brutality. According to police reports, Ogidi was handed over to ASP Nuhu Usman and his team after citizens arrested him for attempting to waybill a parcel containing a fabricated Beretta pistol and ammunition. Rather than following standard operational procedures, ASP Nuhu shot and killed the unarmed, already-apprehended suspect. The Nigeria Police Force has since recommended the immediate dismissal of ASP Nuhu Usman and other officers found culpable, with the Inspector-General approving the recommendation and forwarding it to the Police Service Commission for ratification. Upon completion of administrative procedures, the affected officers will be handed over to judicial authorities for prosecution. Investigators have also uncovered a gun-running syndicate linked to the firearm, with four suspected members of the Black Axe confraternity arrested in connection with the case.