Lagos Lawyer Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa Accuses The Lagos State Government Of Planning To Assassinate Him

The Lagos State Government has asked the police to investigate the alleged assassination attempt on the life of Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, a lawyer, who instituted the suit in which a Federal High Court, Lagos, ruled that toll collection on the Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge was illegal.

The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Mr. Ade Ipaye, in a letter dated April 15, 2014, to the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Umar Manko, urged the police to priotise the investigation.

Ipaye said copies of the letter were also sent to the State Security Service and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in the state "for their information and necessary actions".

Adegboruwa had on Tuesday raised the alarm that assassins, numbering about eight, came to his house at Plots 1-3, Ebun-Olu Adegbouruwa Lane, Itedo, Lekki Phase 1, around 3am on Monday and demolished part of the building in their bid to kill him.

He alleged that the Lagos State Government and others who had "vested interest" in the toll collection on the Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge, were the ones behind the assassination attempt.

"Consequently, I call on Nigerians to hold the Lagos State Government and all those who have vested interests in the Lekki Ikoyi bridge toll fee, responsible for any harm that may come my way. Our government must be open to legitimate opposition and transparency in their affairs," Adegboruwa had said in a statement.

Government has since appealed against the judgment of Justice Saliu Saidu of a Federal High Court, Lagos delivered on March 27.

But Ipaye described Adegboruwa's allegation against the government as "preposterous", stating that the lawyer had accused the government of being culpable without backing the claim with any evidence.

He however urged the police chief to investigate the incident with a view to establishing the "veracity" of the lawyer's claim and apprehending the suspected assailants.

His letter reads in part, "The State Government, as a consistent champion of rule of law and good governance, considers it preposterous that a legal practitioner of Mr. Adegboruwa's standing would level such a grievous and unsubstantiated allegation against the Lagos State Government without any factual or empirical investigation being conducted, and without providing a shred of evidence in support of his claim.

"Nevertheless, the safety and security of every single member of this society is of great concern to our Government.

"Having regard to the seriousness of Mr. Adegboruwa's allegation, I hereby respectfully request your offices to please investigate the allegation for the purpose of establishing veracity of same and apprehending of the alleged assailants.

"Kindly prioritise this investigation and make a report of your findings public as early as practicable."


In his statement on Tuesday, Adegboruwa said his assailants scaled the fence of his house after which they were demolished a window while looking for him.

He said, "They were about eight of them in number. They were well armed with short guns. They scaled through my fence, tied my security man and my driver, at my gatehouse. They asked if the compound belonged to Adegboruwa, if Adegboruwa had a mobile police guard, if Adegboruwa lived alone or had tenants, and whether my neighbour had policemen on patrol.

"They then started to demolish my window burglaries, they scaled upstairs to my terrace, to break into my living room upstairs, by which time I had already called for help, from the neighbours and from the police.

"They then tried to gain entrance into my kitchen downstairs, without success. They then descended upon my security man and driver, beat them up mercilessly and started uprooting my burglary with the heavy instruments that they brought. It was at this point that the police arrived, but the police could not gain entrance into my compound, because my security man had been tied. I saw the armed men myself from my location upstairs. They looked very mean and determined, possibly not the usual armed robbers after material things."

"I do believe that this was an assassination attempt upon my life, by the enemies of the people of the masses of Nigeria, and in particular the good people of Lagos State, in the Lekki-Ajah axis. One of my neighbours has since confirmed that he actually saw a car that dropped off these armed men around my fence at about 2a.m. They were sent on specific instructions."