Posted by ADELOWO OLADIPO and DELE ADERIBIGBE, Lagos on
THE fingerprints and some body parts of the slain Peoples Democratic Party's chieftain, Chief Funsho Williams, were on Monday taken.....
THE fingerprints and some body parts of the slain Peoples Democratic Party's chieftain, Chief Funsho Williams, were on Monday taken by the British pathologists and their Nigerian counterparts in order to ascertain the identities of his assailants.
Sources at the Force CID, Alagbon, Lagos, also told the Nigerian Tribune that the samples would be taken to Britain for proper analysis.
According to the sources, Nigeria had not yet acquired the DNA machine for such an analysis.
Nigeria Tribune learnt that the fingerprints of the late politician had to be taken because the British police detectives said that the scene of the crime had been tampered with before their arrival, while the late politician had also failed to instal close circuit television sets inside his Dolphin Estate, Lagos residence.
A reliable police source, however, disclosed that the result of the post-mortem conducted on the corpse last Sunday might not be released to the general public until the end of the week or early next week.
The source added that the job of the forensic experts invited to the scene of the murder was further made difficult by the fact that about 30 - 40 per cent of the evidence they needed had been tampered with by both the relations and sympathisers who thronged the scene immediately his body was discovered before the arrival of the police detectives.
'In fact, the autopsy report will not be released yet so as to avoid the embarrassing situation witnessed during the police's and pathologists' investigation into the murder of Chief Alaba Joseph.
According to the Nigerian Tribune findings, the need to take the finger prints of the slain politician which were allegedly analysed at the Military Hospital, Ikoyi, Lagos, was in an attempt by the experts to seek second and third opinions on the medical examinations so far conducted on the body of the deceased.
Engineer Williams, according to an impeccable police source, was said to have been dead for almost five hours before distress calls were made by his relations to the authorities of the Lagos State Police Command.
'In fact, he had been dead for more than five hours and his blood started clotting before our arrival at his Dolphin Estate residence, near Ikoyi, Lagos," said the source.
In another development, National Maritime Authority (NMA) Director General, Engr. Festus Ugwu, may have been detained yesterday morning by the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Alagbon, Lagos.
Engineer Williams, it was believed, had some disagreements with him allegedly over the sum of over N500 million and for which the late Williams, Chairman of the Board, had queried the Director General only a few days before the politician was murdered.
Sources told the Nigerian Tribune that Ugwu, who was quizzed earlier Sunday afternoon, was asked to come back yesterday morning, after which the NMA boss was detained, ostensibly to assist detectives to determine the extent of their alleged disagreement, the substance of the alleged query and the likely connections between the disagreement and the murder.
When the NMA Public Relations Officer, Mr. Gbenga Ogunshakin, was contacted, he denied the allegation of any missing N500 million, though he confirmed that his boss was yet to come to office after his visit to the FCID.
'I don't think there is anything like such millions missing. I have also inquired from those who should know, but they all deny such story. I believe there is nothing like that", Mr. Ogunshakin said further.