By Sola Odunfa BBC, Lagos

The late minister's family claim the government is treating defendants as celebrities

The family of the slain Nigerian Justice Minister, Mr Bola Ige, has withdrawn from the ongoing trial of his suspected killers.

In a public statement signed by the late minister's younger brother and daughter , the Ige family stopped short only of directly accusing the government and the ruling PDP party of a lack of interest in finding the killers of the late Mr Ige.

They said that the trial of the suspected killers had been turned into a political theatre, with the defendants being treated as celebrities.

Mr Ige was shot dead at his home in the south-western city of Ibadan in December, 2001.

Omisore was charged and released on bail

They strongly criticised the selection of one of the accused people, Mr Iyiola Omisore, as a PDP candidate in the last Senate elections.

They described it as a show of immorality and perfidy by the ruling party.

Mr Omisore won the election and he was granted bail in time to take his seat when the Senate was inaugurated last week.

The circumstances of his release from prison custody was the last straw for the family.

Political perversity

They criticised the situation in which, according to them, public officials were prepared to facilitate the release of a person accused of murder and also to associate with him both privately and publicly.

They said that this was a season of unending political perversity in Nigeria and that there was more to the case than met the eye.

The lead prosecutor in the case was engaged by the Ige family and he is now expected to formally withdraw from the proceedings at the next hearing.

Many people in Lagos were discussing the dramatic turn of events on Tuesday.