The wife of slain newspaper vendor Ifeanyichukwu Okereke Elechi has expressed shock over the N500 million restitution demand slammed on the Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila by her late husband’s kinsmen.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday afternoon, Josephine Elechi disclosed that her in-laws were the masterminds behind the compensation lawsuit.

Rights activist and senior lawyer Mike Ozekhome had in a letter issued on November 23 asked Mr. Gbajabiamila to compensate the family of the deceased with N500m or face legal action after seven days.

Mrs. Elechi, however, distanced herself from the arrangement at a press briefing Thursday.

“I was in my house when within 10 minutes my father in-law came from Abia, he went out along with his other son and the next day I heard that my husband’s people are demanding N500 million as compensation,” the News Agency of Nigeria reported the bereaved wife of the slain vendor to have said.

“I was shocked and asked how will they be doing that and how will the speaker help the children again with such demand.” Mrs. Elechi noted that the Speaker, whose aide Abdullahi Hassan (of the State Security Service) gunned down her husband on November 19, had offered to take up the cost of her children’s education and upkeep. 

She, nonetheless, wants her husband’s killer brought to justice.

Mr. Gbajabiamila had stated during plenary on Tuesday that the SSS officer, who opened live rounds and killed the unarmed newspaper vendor has been taken into custody by the secret police for investigation and appropriate administrative and judicial action.