BEVERLY HILLS, April 25, (THEWILL) – Governor Willie Obiano, of Anambra State has said the due process of law would be applied in the trial of the nine suspects arrested for allegedly attacking Prof . Charles Soludo recently.
The attack which took place in Isuofia in the Aguata Local Government Area of the state led to the death of three security operatives attached to Soludo.
Obiano, who said his administration followed the due process as an article of faith in the last seven years in Anambra State in accordance with the democratic tradition, added that only the courts of the land can legitimately pronounce a person guilty of any crime.
The governor said news reports that gave the impression that he was eager to punish the arrested persons without recourse to legal processes were not accurate.
Obiano who spoke through the state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, C. Don Adinuba, stated that he would this time not mind signing the death warrant of each person found guilty of participating in the attack on Soludo.
Adinuba had in a statement issued on behalf Obiano, said, in part; ’’Governor Obiano spoke about his readiness to make those involved in the heartless attack feel the full weight of the law against the background of the fact that since his assumption of office in March, 2014, he has not signed the death warrant of any convicted person, regardless of the offence committed by the villain. The governor said that he would this time not mind signing the death warrant of each person found guilty of participating in any way in the gratuitous attack on Soludo.
“The decision to make Soludo attackers feel the full weight of the law is in line with the state administration’s policy that any person who sheds the blood of any Anambra person will be fished out, tried in the appropriate Court of Law and punished accordingly if found guilty. Life is sacred, and anyone who violates this age-old principle of the Igbo people will have himself or herself to blame. Due process has always been followed as an article of faith in the last seven years in Anambra State in accordance with the democratic tradition. Only the courts of the land can legitimately pronounce a person guilty of a crime. Such a person can be punished after the verdict’’.
He maintained that Anambra State had remained exemplary throughout the country in not just the practice of democracy, but also upholding the dignity of the human person and due process, adding that it will continue to uphold this excellent record in all circumstances, including in the determination to make it remain the safest and most peaceful state in Nigeria.
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