Lagos based human right activist,
Mike Ozekhome SAN, and Constitutional Lawyer, Sebastine Hon SAN have
called for the immediate release of the family members of Justice Bode
Rhodes-Vivour, who were last Friday abducted on the Ore-Benin road.
Among those who were abducted are the wife, daughter and driver of
revered law lord - Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivor of the Supreme Court.
The two Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) issued separate statements yesterday.
Ozekhome said that the incident has once again most forcefully brought to the forefront, the pitiable and parlous security situation that has engulfed Nigeria.
This latest incident is coming few days after the kidnapping and final release of nonagenarian and elder statesman, Alhaji Shettima Ali Monguno. He said that the issue of kidnapping has assumed a frightening dimension such that all Nigerians must rise up to kill this menace before it kills us all. It is a twin sister of Boko Haram and Militancy.
Ozekhome described Justice Rhodes-Vivor, as a well-acclaimed jurist, who is merely a judicial officer, not an entrepreneur. He said that the jurist’s wife is a legal practitioner, not a business woman, adding that on September 13, 2012, the son, Rotimi, was also abducted with a N30 Million Naira ransom demand.
His words, “Is this persecution by faceless merchants and buccaneers masterminded by politicians who have vowed to make Nigeria ungovernable? Or is it by mere kidnappers for the sake of ransom money alone? If so, where do they expect a serving justice of the apex court to cough out ransom money? Whatever angle we view it from, the fact remains that Nigeria is fast descending in to the abyss of systemic annihilation. It is more and more adorning the toga of one of the most insecure places on planet earth.”
According to Ozekhome, “We are becoming the laughing stock of the international community. For God’s sake, kidnappers, or whoever you are, release immediately and unhurt, justice Bode Rhodes-Vivor’s lovely wife, daughter and driver. I plead with you in the name of God. Don’t discourage patriotic Nigerians from giving all to their fatherland.”
On his part, Sebastine condemned in the strongest terms the abduction, while calling on the abductors to release their victims whom he described as innocent Nigerians. “The abductors should know that Justice Rhodes-Vivour, just like any other Jurist, is serving his fatherland to the best of his ability and should not be distracted in any way. “The Federal authorities should take urgent and decisive steps to stop abduction and allied criminal activities, to stem the slide to anarchy and total breakdown of law and order,” Sebastine Hon said.
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