Okon Bassey
5 November 2009
Uyo — A peaceful protest earlier scheduled for yesterday in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital by lawyers over the recent killing of one of their colleagues, Obong Umoh Offiong Udonwa, by unknown gunmen has been halted by the state government.
The lawyers under the aegis of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) had gathered at the state judiciary headquarters along Bassey Wellington road, yesterday to flag-off the protest only to call it off with the sudden appearance of two aides of the state governor who reportedly pleaded for the exercise to be suspended.
The governor's aides, the State Commissioner for Housing and Urban Renewal,Mr. Emmanuel Enoidem, and the Special Adviser on Political Affairs, Mr. Jerry Akpan, were said to have informed the lawyers that since the Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, his Deputy, Patrick Ekpotu or any other top government officials were not in town,the planned protest will therefore not be effective.
The decision by the state government to stall the protest had allegedly fuelled criticisms that the killing of the 1999 - 2003 State legislator who represented the Ibesikpo Asutan state constituency was politically motivated.
Chairman of the Uyo branch of the NBA, Mr. Essien Essien, told reporters that the decision to suspend the demonstration was to enable the lawyers meet with the state governor over the matter.
Wife of the deceased, Madam Lucy Udonwa, in an interview with THISDAY called on the state government to give the family security protection since the killers of their breadwinner are yet to be fished out, and ruled out government or political involvement in the killing.
Meanwhile, a group of lawyers in the state under the platform of Ibesikpo Asutan Lawyers Forum where the deceased was an active member has strongly condemned the gruesome murder of their colleague.
The Chairman of the Forum, Obong Edet A. Okon and Secretary, Ubong Offiong, accordingly called on the state government and the State Police Command to ensure the perpetrators of the dastardly act promptly arrested and prosecuted.
Thisday gathered the deceased was shot at his business premised located at Ibesikpo Asutan in a closed rang by unidentified gunmen and died immediately before medical attention was given to him.
The October 13th killing of Udonwa, a father of four and a Ph.D Student in the University of Calabar (UNICAL) allegedly brings to six the number of people killed in the state under similar circumstance within the past eight months.
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