NBA PROTESTS INSECURITY IN ANAMBRA STATE
Reporter : UCHE NDEKE
Legal practitioners in Anambra State have expressed worry over the rising cases of insecurity in the area.
They made their feelings known during a peaceful protest in Awka, the state capital.
The growing spate of insecurity in Anambra State has become a source of worry to residents as attacks on security outfits and kidnapping hold sway for the past one month.
Recently, the President General of Omor Community in Ayamelum Local Government Area and member Nigerian Bar Association was kidnapped while on his way home and his lifeless body found a week later.
The legal practitioners who converged on the judicial headquarters Awka, marched to Government House through Aroma Junction Awka.
The Chairman of NBA Onitsha branch, Mr. Onyechi Ononye, who spoke on behalf of other members, said lawyers in the state were no longer safe to go to court as a result of the high rate of security challenges on ground.
He called on Governor Willie Obiano to immediately deploy security operatives to courts and other parts of the state to secure lives and property of the people.
Mr. Ononye, while expressing displeasure over the kidnap and murder of their member, called on the the government and security agencies to rise to the challenge.
Also, a lawyer and one time Commissioner for Information and Culture in Anambra state, Chief Joe-Martins Uzodike, observed that the insecurity situation in the state was worrisome, citing recent attacks on some military and police check points examples.
Chief Uzodike noted that the killing of one of their colleagues, Mr. Frank Onwuachi, was the climax of the situation, stressing that the essence of the protest was to sensitise the public and correct the impression that Anambra is the safest state in the country
Responding on behalf of the governor, the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Solo Chukwulobelu, while condemning the rate of killings and insecurity, however noted that the government had put measures in place to stem the situation.
Professor Chukwulobelu insisted that Anambra had remained the safest state in the country, and urged the people to join hands with government in tackling the menace.
All the Chairmen and Secretaries of the seven NBA branches in Anambra State took part in the protest and they wore face masks in compliance with the COVID-19 safety protocol.