2001 December 23: Late Chief Bola Ige, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation was shot dead in his bedroom at his Bodija Ibadan residence in an apparent assassination.
Bola Ige was born in Esa Oke, Osun State on September 13, 1930. He attended Ibadan Grammar School between 1943 and 1948, also studied classics at the University of Ibadan. From there he went to the University College, London where he graduated with a law degree in 1959. He was called to bar in London’s Inner Temple in 1961. He practiced privately after he established his law firm, Bola Ige and Co in 1961 and later became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. Because of his oratory prowess, as well as his advocacy work in civil rights and democracy, he became well known.
He joined the Unity Party of Nigeria, the successor to the Action Group during the Second Republic. He was elected as governor of the old Oyo State from 1979 to 1983. He was a founding member of the influential Yoruba pressure group, Afenifere.
