Incident Summary:
12/23/2001: Chief Bola Ige was shot by a seven-member gang of gunmen who broke into his home. The killing was allegedly done in response to an ongoing political dispute. Ige was the leader of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), the party that controlled six Southwest states. Disagreement stemmed from determination of the PDP leaders to win the Southwest states in the 2003 election. Although the gang of assassins confessed to murdering Ige, all suspects accused of hiring the gang, including Senator Iyiola Omisore, and 11 others, were cleared and freed by Oyo state High courts sitting in Ibadan.
Overview
GTD ID:
200112230005
When:
2001-12-23
Country:
Nigeria
Region:
Sub-Saharan Africa
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Oyo
City:
Ibadan
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Assassination |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Government (General) |
Name of Entity |
Attorney General and Minister of Justice |
Specific Description |
Chief Bola Ige |
Nationality of Target |
Nigeria |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Handgun |
Weapon Details |
Ige was shot close to the lower rib with a pistol and a special bullet that dissolved. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
Mr. Damola Adebayo (a.k.a. "Fryo"), the prime suspect in the case, alleged that Osun Deputy Governor, Otunba Iyiola Omisore, and some leaders of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were the masterminds and sponsors of the murder. Members of the 7-man gang who killed Ige claim there were 19 sponsors in total, including a member of the Oyo State Government House, a top official of the Osun State House of Assembly, a local government chairman in Lagos State, a local government chairman in Osun State and a police top brass. Omisore denied these accusations. No one has been convicted in the case, and the inability to track down the killers has been viewed as a grand cover up by the police and presidency authorities. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
7 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
12 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
1 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
1 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
“Nigeria;Man Names 19 Sponsors of Ige's Murder,” All Africa, March 13, 2002 |
“Eight Years After, Where Are Ige’s Killers?” This Day: All Africa Global Media, December 22, 2009 |
“Nigeria; Shock, Grief, Disbelief Trail Ige's Assassination,” Africa News, December 25, 2001 |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties