By Leshi Adebayo
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has claimed that the late former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Obadiah Mailafia, might have been killed as a result of his strong criticism of the Federal Government.
Mailafia, one of the fiercest critics of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, died from an unknown illness at the National Hospital, Abuja, on Sunday morning.
In a statement issued by both HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, and National Media Officer, Zainab Yusuf, the group called for an investigation into circumstances surrounding his death.
HURIWA recalled how the late politician was invited by the Department of State Services (DSS) in September 2020 after he claimed that a North Eastern Governor was a Boko Haram Commander.
The statement read in part, “Exactly one year ago on September 11, 2020, at the height of the incessant harassment by the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police Force, the former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and a critic of the current administration, Dr. OBADIAH Mailafiya raised alarm of death threat as follows: ‘Please, pray for me. I have reasons to believe that my life is in danger and that some powerful political forces want to silence me forever for speaking the truth. For speaking on behalf of the Holy Martyrs — of thousands of innocent children, women, elderly, and youths that have been killed in our beloved country.”
The group demanded a thorough investigation into the claims, saying, “There are very unassailable reasons to believe that the alarm he raised which was never investigated may be the harbinger of his sudden demise.”
