Justice Marcel Okoh who was newly sworn in as Justice
in Delta state has been kidnapped. Justice Okoh,
a former Director General of Public Prosecution, DPP who hails from Umunede in
Ika South Local Government area was kidnapped by some gunmen at Oria-Abraka in
Ethiope East LGA of the state on his way to Warri. The gunmen allegedly
trailed him from Umunede along the Benin-Asaba expressway in his SUV and was
abducted at Oria. Delta State Police Command, Mr. Charles Muka who
confirmed the incident also said the SUV has been found but no trace of the
Judge.
Lawyers
protest in Asaba - Vanguard
Asaba –
Lawyers in Asaba on Friday took to the streets in protest against Monday’s
kidnap of a judge of the state’s High Court, disrupting courts’ proceedings in
the process.
The
lawyers, under the auspices of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) and numbering
more than 40, barricaded Magistrates Courts premises on Ibusa Road, at 8.30
a.m.
They also
barred court workers and magistrates from entering the court halls.
The judge,
Justice Marcel Okoh, was allegedly abducted by a gang of armed men at Abraka,
Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta on his way to Warri also in Delta.
A Chief
Magistrate, Mr Sylvester Ehikwe, and some workers, who were already in their
offices were forced to abandon their duties by the protesting lawyers.
The
lawyers said that there would be no court sittings in the state till the judge
was released.
Twenty-four
detainees brought to the court by prisons officials for their various cases
were also turned back by the protesting lawyers.
Mr
Lawrence Egodike, one of the protesters, said that the state branch of
NBA had resolved that none of its members would appear in any court untill Okoh
was released.
Egodike
also said that the courts would not be allowed to sit, and called on the state
government and security agencies to ensure that the victim was alive and
promptly released.
He also
implored the authorities to fish the kidnappers of the judge, regretting that
the rate of abduction in the state was rising at an alarming rate.
Neither
the Commissioner of Police in the state nor the Command’s spokesman could be
reached for update on the judge’s fate. (NAN).
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