The family of a former finance minister, Nenadi Usman, has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, over alleged murder of the former Minister’s 31-year-old daughter, Anita Akapson.
The family’s petition signed by their lawyer , Kayode Ajulo, alleged that Anita “was trailed, targeted, intercepted, her vehicle brushed, blocked and shot at close range by a police officer at Katampe District, Abuja.”
There have been reports that Akapson, who recently returned to Nigeria after her university education in the United Kingdom, was shot dead by a Superintendent of Police on around 11 pm on Saturday.
She was driving out of her house at Katampe Extension by Gwarimpa Estate in a Honda Accord car when she met her death.
Policemen were said to have surrounded the Akapson’s building and were lying in wait for a fleeing armed robbery suspect when the woman drove out of the compound.
But the family said Akapson was shot in the stomach after the police blocked her car and punctured the tyres with several bullets.
The lawyer to the family, Ajulo, in the petition demanded a thorough investigation into the killing, stating that Akapson’s murderers were being shielded by the police authorities.
Ajulo hinted that Usman was apprehensive that the murder might have political undertones on account of her position as a member of the leading opposition party in the country.
The petition read in part, “The circumstances of the trailing, tracking and gruesome murder of the deceased who had a strong affinity with Senator Nenadi Usman, a member of the leading opposition political party in Nigeria, and who is presently facing continuous prosecutions from the state, calls for thorough and comprehensive investigation.
“Given the level of intimidation of opposition by the instrumentalities of the state, our clients are worried as to the intent or possible calculated assassination of the deceased to further cause anguish to the family.”
