Abuja — The Nigerian police has not had much success at following up murder cases and other crimes. Often the police in our land have dismissed cases of gruesome murder and assassination as the handiwork of armed robbers after announcing to the public that investigations are 'on-going' and will get to the root of the crime.' Most times, the crime is forgotten as the investigation reaches a dead end, yielding little results.

However, many Nigerians, friends and the family of the late Barrister Abubakar Abba Umar, whose charred remains were found inside his burnt car along Suleiman Street in Utako Abuja, are praying that his violent death will not be passed off as yet another case of armed robbery, or a traffic accident.

This is because though his assailants endeavoured to burn his body beyond recognition, after tying him to the driver's seat of his car, post-mortem investigation carried out at the National Hospital in Abuja, showed that the late Barrister Umar, of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Abuja had a bullet wound to the side of his head.

The late Abubakar Umar, a lawyer and special assistant to the newly appointed registrar-general of the Corporate Affairs Commission, appeared to have been trailed by his assailants on the night of Wednesday, 11th of November, 2009, after he left his place of work at the CAC. At the Utako market area where the incident took place, residents said they saw smoke billowing from a burning car sometime around 9pm on Wednesday, but did not hear gunshots.

LEADERSHIP WEEKEND reporters, however, confirmed from two residents of the area that they heard three gunshots and saw about four men moving round a car, as if they were looking for something, after which, the men left in another car, having set fire to what was later identified as the late Umar's car.

While the unwary and indeed, the police might quickly dismiss the untimely and painful death of the late hardworking lawyer, Abubakar Abba Umar as yet another case of armed robbery, or an unsolvable crime puzzle, the gruesome and heartless termination of the life of this committed and transparent individual and civil servant might indeed be a classic case of corruption fighting back - of those who have been prevented from manipulating the system for personal gain and advantage exacting vengeance.

Investigation carried out by LEADERSHIP WEEKEND revealed that the late Barrister Umar was a member of the team that drafted the EFCC law. He was also a schoolmate at the Nigeria Law School of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, former EFCC chairman and until his death, he was a member of the board of the anti-graft body.

The late Umar, according to those who knew him, was among those who sanitised the new vibrant Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), which in the recent past was like a mad house where members of the public could not get much done.

It used to be an uphill task to get a company registered at the CAC, but now, it takes just a matter of hours and those who know the late Barrister Umar apportion to him much of the credit for the transformation.

In the process of transforming the CAC to make it a transparent and financially healthy parastatal, the late Umar discovered many fake company registration certificates and was forced to hand over the offending lawyers to the EFCC for prosecution. He was a no-nonsense bureaucrat and lawyer who neither accepted gratification, nor condoned those under him doing same

Among the changes introduced by the late Barrister Umar, which his admirers feel did not endear him to many unscrupulous people who either work or do business with the CAC, is the requirement that if one wants to register a company, one has to pay up all the required fees as well as periodically render financial statements of the company to show that the company is not one 'on the shelf'. While this and other measures turned the CAC around for the better, not everyone seemed happy with the reforms of the transparency-inclined late Umar.

LEADERSHIP WEEKEND gathered that the staff of the CAC who can no longer engage in touting for monetary gain and the lawyers whose nefarious activities were checkmated, did not like the measures the late Umar introduced.

But any hope that the CAC would see the last of him and his patriotic reform at the expiration of the eight-year tenure of the former registrar general of the CAC, was dashed when the new helmsman of the commission, on account of his achievements, appointed him as special assistant.

In fact, it was learnt that those used to shady deals, sharp practices and giving of bribes describe the late lawyer as a hopeless case, as he would neither accept nor condone the giving of bribes to bend the rules.

As LEADERSHIP WEEKEND learnt, a group within the CAC known as G6 actually held a meeting about him, but as luck would have it, the meeting was videoed and somehow, the video was leaked to Umar. A fearless and God-fearing man, the late Umar confronted this group. They apologised and he let the matter rest.

LEADERSHIP WEEKEND also gathered on good authority that the late Barrister Umar confided in his family that a newly appointed high-ranking officer at the CAC, who has a case pending at the EFCC, seemed not to like him.

The former CAC official was also locked in a land dispute with the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives.

According to information, the late Barrister Umar has a piece of land allocated to him at Apo by the FCDA near the residence of the deputy speaker, complete with C-of-O and approved building plans. The late Umar, according to the information, was told by the aides of the deputy speaker to see their boss before he starts building on the site. As a gentleman and peaceloving person, Umar obliged and met his would-be future neighbour, who now told him to furnish him with photocopies of the land documents, as he would like to buy the land. The late lawyer obliged him. The deputy speaker, as the story went, met the FCT minister to request that the allocation to Umar be revoked, as he is interested in the said plot.

Though the FCT minister had not revoked the allocation at the time of Umar's untimely and suspicious death, the FCDA had requested that Barrister Umar should not commence development of the property.

It was gathered that the late Abubakar Abba Umar vowed to go to court to protect his rights, if his allocation was revoked.

It is without question that the death of this patriot and reformer should not be allowed to go like that of the late Chief Bola Ige. The police owes his family and Nigerians the debt of fishing out his killers, at least to assure many patriotic and hardworking people out there, that they can still do their honest work and live their lives without fear or threat.