Former National Human Rights Commission Chairman Chidi Odinkalu has questioned the appointment of Ken Emeakayi as a security adviser to Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo, citing unresolved issues connected with the 2002 killing of lawyer Barnabas Igwe and his wife Abigail.
Odinkalu said records reviewed by the Anambra Truth, Justice and Peace Commission raised serious questions about Emeakayi’s alleged role in the attack.
The commission, which Odinkalu chaired, submitted its report to the state government in March 2024.
According to him, the report recommended that the case be reopened and that those identified in the records be made to answer outstanding questions.
Barnabas Igwe, then chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association in Onitsha, and his pregnant wife were killed in September 2002.
The killings became one of the most controversial unresolved political violence cases in Anambra State.
Odinkalu said an earlier prosecution did not reach a final conclusion and that records associated with the case later became difficult to trace.
He stressed that the commission’s report did not pronounce Emeakayi guilty.
His concern, he said, was that unresolved questions identified by the commission had not been addressed before Emeakayi was appointed to a senior security role.
Odinkalu described the appointment as troubling and said he did not know the governor’s reasons for making it.
The allegations remain unresolved claims and no final judicial finding of guilt was cited in the source material.
Odinkalu maintained that the government should act on the commission’s recommendations and ensure that the long standing case receives proper attention.
