Human rights lawyer and social critic, Mike Ozekhome, has been kidnapped along the Benin-Auchi motorway in Edo state.
A statement by Abdul Mahmud, President, Public Interest Lawyers League, PILL, in Abuja confirmed the development.
According to him, “Last night (Friday) news broke out that Mike Ozekhome(SAN) had been kidnapped by unknown persons as he travelled on the now notorious Ehor stretch of the Benin-Auchi motorway. And with the sad news now long confirmed by the Edo State Command of the Nigeria Police Force, there has been no indication of his whereabouts or that his driver who was seized with him.
“Ozekhome (SAN), my former principal and a personal friend, is the suave, outspoken Lagos lawyer whose contributions to constitutional and public laws are well too known; and it is tragic, and if not unheard of, for anyone to have seized him, held him captive against his will. Ozekhome, like many Nigerians who are today held captive by kidnappers everywhere, doesn’t deserve the bestiality of those he has dedicated many years of his outspoken forthrightness to defend, nor does he deserve the mistreatment of gun totting scum who have seized our roads and our country. I call on those holding Ozekhome captive to release him immediately and unconditionally.
Continuing Mahmud said “there’s a wider point to be made here. The kidnap of Ozekhome highlights the growing insecurity in Edo state and in our country; and the government and security agencies must live up to their responsibility of securing public safety.
Ozekhome , a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, had campaigned against military dictatorship in Nigeria and is well-known for canvassing the welfare of Nigeria’s poor. He, however joins the growing list of Nigerians kidnapped on daily scale by gun-totting bands of kidnappers.
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