A chieftain of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bode George, has demanded a fresh investigation into the 2006 murder of his friend, Funsho Williams. George is therefore calling on the president, Muhammadu Buhari to order the re-opening of the case.
The deceased was PDP’s gubernatorial candidate in Lagos in 2003 and was tipped by pundits to pick the party’s guber ticket for the 2007 poll. He was however murdered under controversial circumstances on July 27, 2006 by unknown gunmen with many commentators linking the assassination to his political ambitions.
In an statement, George said it has been 14 years since the incident occurred, wondering why the killers of Williams are yet to be brought to justice.
According to the former national vice chairman of the PDP, the death of the former gubernatorial aspirant dashed the hopes of several Lagosians and crumbled a great dream. He recalled that the late Williams was reserved and humble- an individual who never plotted evil against others.
“He was gentle but reflective with sharp analytical convictions. There was always certain piety about him, an effective calibration in self-effacing innocence. He meant no harm to anyone. But he was firm, resolved, dedicated to the righteous path,” he said.
George opined that Buhari has done the right thing by reopening investigation into the death of Bola Ige, former minister of justice and attorney-general of the federation who was murdered in 2002 in his home.
The PDP stalwart urged the president to do the same by ordering an investigation into William’s death.
“It has been 14 years now when a terrible dark cloud fell upon the Lagosian entity and upon all lovers of freedom. It was really a very sad day on that horrific July 27, 2006, as the blood-soaked body of Engineer Funsho Williams was discovered in his Dolphin residence in Ikoyi,” the statement read.
“With the murder of Funsho Williams, who stood at the threshold of triumphing at the general election, a great dream was shattered. The hopes of millions of Lagosians who were hearkening to be rescued from what was then building up as a gradual servitude of the Lagosian natives was dashed.
“I am particularly passionate about Funsho who many of his acolytes adorably called captain. Funsho was my junior at the University of Lagos. We were both Engineering students but sprung from different departments. While he was in Civil Engineering, I was in the Electrical Engineering Department.
“Those who killed Funsho Williams might have killed a man but not his dream of rescuing and salvaging our society. We continue where he stopped.
“We appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to re-open the investigation of the brutal murder of Funsho Williams. The President has done the right thing by re-opening the investigation of the murder of Chief Bola Ige.
“He will be greatly enhanced in historical reckoning and signification if his administration is attested as being the one that finally nailed the evil characters hiding in plain sight who murdered Funsho Williams.”
The death of Williams has been attributed by many analysts to PDP’s poor showing in Lagos state in the intervening years.
