Bayo Ohu, Between Odumakin, Mrs. Ohu and CG Dikko

Bayo Ohu; Wife finger Custom Official Ayodele Samuel, Lagos with agency report The widow of the late slain Journalist Bayo Ohu mrs Ohu had confirm that her late husband was working on a sensitive story about the use of forged educational certificates by a recently appointed customs official. She told a foreign news agency she express worry over the security of her children “the same people who ordered my husband killed may come for us, They may think that there is more evidence left with us that may reveal their identities” She also noted the non chalant attitude of the police on the investigation of her late husband killer, “One of the police in charge of the area came at about 9 p.m. to ask me about a particular cell phone and asked if it belonged to my husband. I looked at the phone and told him that it was not my husband’s phone and he left. Then after three days another set of policemen came, sent by the inspector general to come and console us. That is all I have had from the police. I don’t think the police are doing enough to find your husband’s killer”. She said that late bayo did not hint her about any risky story he was working on prior to his death nor any threats. All I could confirm is that: According to The Guardian, they said my husband was working on a corruption and certificate forgery story by some Nigerian custom officials. So I hope the newspaper will pick it up from there to find out how those people might have been involved in hiring my husband’s assassins. The late Ohu wife who’s Currently doing a student of mass communications in Ogun State University said the death of her husband has change her career to journalism “I was focusing on venturing into advertising not journalism, but because of what happened to him, I have now decided to go into full journalism to complete what he had,” She added that “I am determined to find out who killed my husband and for what reason. The fact that he was killed by hired assassins was because he stood by the truth. This is my reason to go into journalism, to find our why he was killed and to continue reporting those things that his killers did not want reported. Also Afenifere Spoke man Yinka Odumakin has describle the custom General petiotion about his statement on the death of Bayo Ohu as surprise and laughable. Odumakin said the custom boss is only trying to devate attension away from him. Odumakin who spoke to in Lagos said the CG has only accused himself of murder because nobody accused him “ I only suggest to the police to cast they wide in getting to the root of Bayo murder due to some of his last stories he did relating to the CG”. Odunakin said he never know what was in Bayo’s laptop, he restate that the custom boss should be interrogated over Bayo gory murder. The comptroller-general of the Nigeria Customs Service, Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko Inde, has implored the inspector- general of police, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo, over the gory murder of Bayo Ohu, a former assistant political editor of The Guardian newspapers. It should be recalled that one Olajide Ibrahim wrote a petition against the CG, through his counsel, Festus Keyamo, claiming that he forged some certificates for him in 1995. But following some defects discovered in his attached affidavits, the Customs boss was cleared after the screening of the Presidency's investigation team. The FULL INTERVIEW Bayo Ohu was working on the Certificate Forgery story of CGS Abdullahi Dikko before his murder-CPJ interviews wife of slain Guardian editor The killers of Nigerian Editor Bayo Ohu are still a mystery, three weeks after his murder. Now the family of the former Guardian newspaper journalist lives in fear. Ohu was shot dead early on Sunday morning, September 20, by a gang of five armed men and a woman in his apartment in Egbeda, a Lagos suburb in Nigeria. His killers made away with his laptop and cell phone, raising speculation that he was killed for his work as a journalist. Nigerian Police Commissioner Marvel Akpoyido told CPJ that investigations are ongoing. According to local news reports, Ohu was working on a sensitive story about the use of forged educational certificates by a recently appointed customs official. This was confirmed by his widow, who told CPJ that this information had been passed on to her by senior journalists at The Guardian.The 31-year-old mother of five girls, aged 10 months to 16 years old, described her slain husband as “loving, caring, and with a passion for journalism,” which convinced her to take up journalism as a profession herself. Blessing Bayo Ohu recently spoke to CPJ about her husband, her security concerns, and her future plans.CPJ: How would you describe your life with your husband over the years of your marriage?Ohu: We lived a very humble and comfortable life to the best of our ability. He was a contented, hard-working man who did not desire to have what was beyond his means. Above all, my husband was a very loving, understanding, and caring father. CPJ: How would you describe his personality?Ohu: He was an indoor person who did not make many friends and chose those he related to with care.CPJ: Can you describe your last moments with your husband prior to his assassination?Ohu: It was on a Sunday morning, so when I woke up, I told him I was going to church. Then I was called after 45 minutes by our neighbors and told about the incident. CPJ: What did the neighbors tell you?Ohu: To come home quickly, that something bad had happened. When I got home, I first saw a pool of blood at the house. The neighbors did not allow me to get inside the house. Nobody was telling me what had happened. I only saw a pool of blood from the outside but I was not seeing my husband. It never occurred to me that the pool of blood was his, and that he was already no more.CPJ: How did you react to the news?Ohu: It was unbelievable for such a thing to have happened to my husband. I never imagined that he could die that kind of death.CPJ: How do you feel about your security and that of your children?Ohu: I am worried that the same people who ordered my husband killed may come for us. They may think that there is more evidence left with us that may reveal their identities.CPJ: Since the burial of your husband, have the police been in touch with you?Ohu: Yes, about a week ago. One of the police in charge of the area came at about 9 p.m. to ask me about a particular cell phone and asked if it belonged to my husband. I looked at the phone and told him that it was not my husband’s phone and he left. Then after three days another set of policemen came, sent by the inspector general to come and console us. That is all I have had from the police.CPJ: Do you think the police are doing enough to find your husband’s killer?Ohu: I don’t think so.CPJ: Did your husband hint to you about any risky story he was working on prior to his death? Any threats?Ohu: No. Not at all.CPJ: Do you know much about the circumstances surrounding his death?Ohu: According to The Guardian, they said my husband was working on a corruption and certificate forgery story by some Nigerian custom officials. So I hope the newspaper will pick it up from there to find out how those people might have been involved in hiring my husband’s assassins.CPJ: Have you been in touch with the management or editors of The Guardian?Ohu: Yes. They have been in touch. I must say they are trying their best. But I would have liked more stories about my husband to be published.CPJ: How would you describe his journalism career?Ohu: My husband loved his job so much and had lots of passion for journalism. That is why I decided to join journalism, and he really encouraged me in my mass communication studies. Currently, I am doing a degree in mass communications in Ogu State University. But then, I was focusing on venturing into advertising not journalism, but because of what happened to him, I have now decided to go into full journalism to complete what he had started.CPJ: I admire your resolve and courage, but aren’t you afraid you may encounter the same fate?Ohu: No, not really. I am determined to find out who killed my husband and for what reason. The fact that he was killed by hired assassins was because he stood by the truth. This is my reason to go into journalism, to find our why he was killed and to continue reporting those things that his killers did not want reported Petition The comptroller-general of the Nigeria Customs Service, Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko Inde, has implored the inspector- general of police, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo, to arrest and prosecute national publicity secretary of Afenifere Renewal Group Yinka Odumakin over the gory murder of Bayo Ohu, a former assistant political editor of The Guardian newspapers. According to the customs boss, Odumakin must have a lead that "will help the Nigeria Police to unravel the mystery behind the gruesome murder of the late Bayo Ohu". Dikko's allegation came following a story on page 2 of the Daily Champion newspaper of September 23, 2009, with the headline "Customs Chief Fingered in Ohu's Murder". In the said story, Odumakin, who granted an interview to Champion, alleged that Dikko was involved in the murder of Ohu on September 20, 2009, because, before he was killed, the late journalist was working on a report of alleged certificate forgery levelled against the customs boss which was contained in his laptop taken away by his assailants. But in what seems like a hunter becoming the hunted, Dikko threw the dice back at Odumakin when he alleged in a petition to the IGP that from what he said in the said story, the Afenifere's publicity scribe knew much about the incident and therefore should "be invited by the police to throw more light on what he knew about the said murder". The petition dated September 24, 2009, and signed by Dikko's counsel, Mr. Amobi Nzelu, contended that Odumakin's allegation against the customs CG has generated so many questions to be answered by him. Dikko listed the questions which he claimed are yawning for answers to include how he (Odumakin) knew the contents of the laptop; whether he is a journalist who shares the same desk with the late Ohu; whether he was working in the same office as Ohu to know what he was doing; whether he accessed the content of the late Ohu's laptop and who is in possession of the laptop. The petition further stated: "From what he said, the above questions will be put to him for explanation. It is rather unfortunate that people take delight in making wild and unfounded allegation. Since he knew too much about the laptop and the contents, he should explain how he got to know it and the whereabouts of the laptop. "Apart from the above statements of Yinka Odumakin being highly defamatory, it snacks of criminal defamation of the character of our client. We demand that he be arrested and prosecuted for criminal defamation of the character of our client". While noting that people should not be allowed to talk recklessly about the character and reputation of others, Dikko urged IGP Onovo to use his office "in seeing that justice is not only done, but seen to have been manifestly done in this matter".