{"id":8977,"date":"2013-08-25T06:39:51","date_gmt":"2013-08-25T06:39:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigerian-newspapers\/bloody-clash-as-kidnappers-seize-top-lawyer-ozekhome\/"},"modified":"2013-08-25T06:39:51","modified_gmt":"2013-08-25T06:39:51","slug":"bloody-clash-as-kidnappers-seize-top-lawyer-ozekhome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/bloody-clash-as-kidnappers-seize-top-lawyer-ozekhome\/","title":{"rendered":"Bloody clash as kidnappers seize top lawyer, Ozekhome"},"content":{"rendered":"
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*Four policemen killed *Whereabouts still unknown<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Mike Ozekhome, was on Friday kidnapped on the Benin-Auchi Road by an armed gang. Ozekhome hails from Edo State.<\/p>\n

A human rights lawyer, he was reportedly seized by an armed gang around 3pm at Ehor near Ekpoma in Edo State. At press time, the kidnappers had not made any contact with his family members.<\/p>\n

The Police Command in Edo State yesterday confirmed the kidnap. The Police Public Relations Officer, Moses Eguavoen, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, confirmed the kidnap to newsmen in Benin.<\/p>\n

Eguavoen said that intelligence report also confirmed that the kidnappers abducted Ozekhome\u2019s driver and killed four police officers in a shootout. He said that some of the suspected kidnappers escaped with bullet wounds.<\/p>\n

The Edo State House of Assembly recently passed a bill for law prescribing death penalty for kidnappers in the state. Section four of the law says that any person who attempts to commit kidnapping is liable upon conviction to life imprisonment.<\/p>\n

More than 24 hours after he was abducted, however, the whereabouts of Ozekhome is still unknown.<\/p>\n

A pupil who simply identified himself as Chidi in his Chambers told Sunday Mirror yesterday that he was with the family who confided in him that there was no information about the whereabouts of the abducted lawyer. Also, the news has sent shock waves to the Nigerian legal and human rights communities.<\/p>\n

Public Interest Lawyers League (PILL), an NGO based in Abuja Nigeria had condemned the kidnap, stating that his seizure by unknown gunmen was as a result of the growing insecurity in Edo and Nigeria in general.<\/p>\n

It would be recalled that the kidnap attack on members of the legal community started recently when one of the sons of a serving Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour was kidnapped with a N30million ransom demanded.<\/p>\n

The kidnappers after collecting money to release the son of the jurist, his wife and daughter were again kidnapped.<\/p>\n

Ozekhome (SAN) was one of the loudest voices condemning the abduction. Less than two months after the jurist family was released, the kidnappers had left the bench for prominent lawyers in private practice.<\/p>\n

Condemning the latest abduction, Public Interest Lawyers League (PILL) in a statement signed by its President, Abdul Mamhud, urged the kidnappers to free Mr. Ozekhome immediately.<\/p>\n

The statement described Mr. Ozekhome as a \u201csuave, outspoken Lagos lawyer whose contributions to constitutional and public laws are well two known.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. <\/a>A DisNaija.Com<\/a> network.<\/p>\n

Source: National Mirror Newspaper<\/p>\n

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