Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
Lawyers operating in Rivers State have threatened to embark on boycott of the courts following abduction of four of their colleagues.
The decision to boycott courts was reached yesterday by members of the executive committee of the eight branches of the NBA in the state.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, Chairman, Port Harcourt Branch of the NBA, Sylvester Adaka, expressed sadness on the increasing rate of kidnapping and assassination of lawyers and their family members in Rivers State.
He noted that on Sunday August 4, four lawyers he identified as Iyke Emelogu , Sunday Womo, Monima Peters and Anthony Wakama were kidnapped in Eneka in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of the state.
According to him, the lawyers have not been released since then; a situation Adaka described as shocking.
The NBA Chairman therefore demanded unconditional release of all their colleagues being held hostage by kidnappers.
He said if the request is not heeded, the NBA would have no choice but to compel its members to withdraw their professional services from all cases involving kidnapping, cultism and armed robbery pending before the courts.