This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 003273 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/27/2011 
TAGS: PGOV PINS OIIP NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIAN JUSTICE MINISTER ASSASSINATED 
 
REF: A. STATE 220109 
     ¶B. ABUJA 2878 
     ¶C. ABUJA 3228 
 
 
(U) Classified by CDA Andrews; Reasons 1.5 (b/d). 
 
 
¶1. (U) 71-year-old Nigerian Minister of Justice and Attorney 
General Bola Ige was assassinated in his Ibadan (Oyo State) 
home on 23 December around 2100.  According to press reports, 
Ige had just released his security detail so they could get 
something to eat.  Four or five individuals entered the home, 
took control of Ige's family, and then shot Ige, who was 
alone in his bedroom.  Some newspapers report that the single 
gunshot wound to the chest featured a "disintegrating bullet" 
(perhaps a reference to a hollow-point round).  The assassins 
then departed.  Nothing was reported stolen, and no one else 
was injured.  Ige reportedly died en route to the hospital. 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) The attack followed other violence surrounding 
political infighting in Osun State between Governor Adebisi 
Akande (an Ige protege) and Deputy Governor Iyiola Omisore. 
Ige was highly influential across the Southwest as one of the 
two last surviving governors elected in 1979 from the ranks 
of Obafemi Awolowo's UPN.  The other, Lateef Jakande, 
compromised himself during the Abacha years and on longer 
enjoyed the same stature as Ige.  Moreover, Ige played an 
important role both in the Southwest-centered Alliance for 
Democracy (AD) party and Afenifere, the Yoruba 
politico-cultural group.  With the AD officially in the 
Opposition but Ige serving as a Minister, the late Attorney 
General was an important voice in Abuja for Southwestern 
interests.  The conflict between Akande and Omisore had ten 
days before notched up in intensity when an unruly crowd 
linked in the media to Omisore jostled Ige at Ile-Ife, the 
spiritual center of Yoruba traditional beliefs.  A few days 
later, Osun State Lawmaker Odunayo Olagbaju, an Omisore 
partisan, was killed in the same town, after which a 
dusk-to-dawn curfew was declared in Ile-Ife.  Two other 
lawmakers are reportedly wanted for questioning in respect of 
Olagbaju's death. 
 
 
¶3. (U) In response to Ige's death, President Obasanjo 
cancelled his 24 December trip to Harare, and called a 
meeting on the security situation in Osun.  Attendees 
included the Vice President, the Deputy Senate President, the 
Minister of State for Justice, the Inspector General of 
Police, and others.  After the meeting concluded, military 
forces were deployed to portions of Oyo and Osun (in what is 
reportedly a police-led action to contain tensions). 
Meanwhile, the Osun government declared a dusk-to-dawn curfew 
throughout the state. 
 
 
¶4. (C) COMMENT: Ige's death appears to be the latest in a 
cycle of violence born of Alliance for Democracy (AD) party 
in-fighting, particularly between the Governor and Deputy 
Governor of Osun.  Some media are suggesting the AG was 
killed to avenge Olagbuju's death.  The Chief of Staff to 
Lagos Governor Tinubu in a conversation with Consul General 
sought to link the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) to 
the killing, saying that the PDP wanted to wrest control of 
Oyo from the AD but could not do that as long as Ige was on 
the scene.  Others try to implicate the North, arguing that 
Ige's recent public statements in opposition to the sentence 
of death by stoning pronounced on Safiya Husseini had made 
the late AG a target for Sharia proponents.  The politics of 
Nigeria are dense, but these latter two views strike us as 
less probable than a connection to the bloody battle between 
Akande and Omisore. 
 
 
¶5. (C) COMMENT CONTINUED: The murder of Ige, however, marks a 
new low in a political cycle increasingly governed by 
jockeying for position in anticipation of the 2003 elections. 
 Along with the PDP convention that almost fell apart before 
it happened (Abuja 2878) and the electoral law that was not 
handled properly (Abuja 3228) and is provoking an ever-larger 
chorus of protest (septel), the senseless killing of 
Nigeria's 71 year-old Minister of Justice shows the 
regrettable willingness of Nigerian political actors to walk 
the cliff's edge.  With so much patronage linked to the 
outcome of elections, many exhibit an unfortunate tendency to 
test the exact limits of the brink, counting on their 
adversaries to have less nerve and pull back first. 
 
 
¶6.  (C) COMMENT CONTINUED:  One would like to think that the 
killing of "Uncle Bola" Ige would provide impetus to pull 
back from the cliff's edge, not a temptation to test it 
further:  Although Ige is the first Federal Minister killed 
for apparent political reasons, many other Nigerians have 
died this year in conflict of an essentially political 
nature.  With the 2003 elections more than a year away and 
many hurdles to cross before they can successfully be held, 
the probability for further political violence is high. 
 
 
¶7. (C) COMMENT CONTINUED:  It is critical for President 
Obasanjo and civil authority to assert themselves.  While 
dispatching the military to yet another area of tension and 
unrest may put a lid on violence for now, such action does 
not offer much hope for the medium-term stability required to 
restore the public sense of trust in its government's ability 
to ensure their security.  Rumors of an impending cabinet 
reshuffle had recently been heard in Abuja.  If there is 
truth to these rumors, Ige's death will probably move the 
date of the cabinet reshuffle closer.  A change would likely 
offer some initial encouragement to the body politic, but 
real results will be required to sustain it.  END COMMENT. 
 
 
¶8. (U) The Embassy released the following statement on 
December 27: 
 
 
Begin text: 
Statement by the American Embassy 
On the Death of Minister of Justice and 
Attorney General Chief Bola Ige 
 
 
It was with a heavy heart that the Embassy learned of the 
tragic and senseless murder of Minister of Justice and 
Attorney General Chief Bola Ige. 
 
 
Chief Ige was a fine gentleman, a warm and helpful 
interlocutor for the Embassy and a superlative son and 
representative of Nigeria.  An eloquent and courageous 
champion for the rule of law in Nigeria, he recognized the 
serious threat posed by drug traffickers, organized crime and 
corruption to Nigeria's stability and nascent democracy, and 
used his position to push for reforms to strengthen Nigeria's 
ability to counter these threats.  In November, because his 
legal and leadership skills were recognized around the world, 
he was elected by an overwhelming majority to the United 
Nations' International Law Commission. 
 
 
We take this opportunity to extend the profound condolences 
of the Government and people of the United States to his wife 
and family and to the Government and people of Nigeria. 
 
 
We will all deeply miss Chief Bola Ige.  May his soul rest in 
perfect peace. 
 
 
End text. 
Andrews