Counting kidnapped and killed among Nigerian judges and lawyers

To survive in the legal profession in Nigeria these days, practitioners and judges need skills in martial arts; Olympian-scale foot agility; handling of weapons; not to mention advanced subterfuge training. Unfortunately, these are not offered in the Nigerian Law School curriculum nor in the judicial orientation.

Even with these skills bolstered by a wing and a prayer, being connected to the business of the judicial process in Nigeria today is often life threatening.

In August 2015, Nigeria's State Security Service (SSS) announced that it had arrested members of a kidnapping syndicate who were about to abduct judges sitting on petitions elections in Owerri, the capital of Imo State. They named the leader of this syndicate as a Chibueze Henry, who was called Vampire. Charges followed against Vampire and his gang whose trial began at Owerri the following year.

Now Owerri High Court occupies prime real estate, a glaring distance between the State Governor's office and the headquarters of the Imo State Police Command. Entry to the premises is controlled by gates, operated by security guards who are public officials. In one of the courtrooms of these premises, the trial of Vampire and his gang was to continue on the morning of January 27, 2017.

As officials from the Nigeria Prison Service (as it was then known) entered the courthouse, a black sports utility vehicle (SUV) at the rear of the convoy sped past them, stopping abruptly . A horde of men armed with assault rifles jumped out of the SUV and started shooting indiscriminately. As judges, court staff, lawyers and court patrons rushed, the assailants freed Vampire who fled with up to 29 other inmates. The attack killed at least two people, leaving many injured.

Imo State, where this incident occurred, has been the scene of targeted violence against judges and lawyers for more than a decade. In March 2011, the state High Court judges went on strike to protest the kidnapping of one of their colleagues, Theophilus Nzekwe. He wasn't the first.

A year earlier, presiding judge of the state Customary Court of Appeals, Ambrose Egu; and the senior magistrate, Pauline Njemanze, were abducted near Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport near Owerri as part of official duties.

In 2009, Florence Duroha-Igwe, another High Court judge in Imo State, was the victim of an attack in which her driver and police officer were seriously injured by gunshots .

Emboldened by the lack of accountability, these attacks would increase both in frequency and brazenness. In October 2019, a senior state appellate judge, Chioma Nwosu-Iheme, was kidnapped in Benin City while presiding over electoral disputes. She spent fifteen days in captivity.

In September 2021, former Abia State Chief Justice Nnenna Oti was abducted in Orlu, Imo State. Seven months earlier, the President of the Owerri Court of Appeal, Rita Pemu, had faced the perils of kidnapping and possible assassination with an additional reserve of native wiles.

The magistrate and court inspector, Oderachukwu Onumajulu, was not so lucky. As a child, Odera always wanted to be a judge. In 2016, she took the first rung of her ambition when she was admitted to the Nigerian Bar. Three years later, she became a magistrate in Imo State. On May 22, 2021, unidentified men shot Odera and abducted her outside the Owerri Customary Court of Appeal, where she was working as a court inspector. A month later, in June 2022, she died of her injuries.

Odera was the second judicial figure to be killed in the line of duty for the state in as many years. On November 23, 2018, a body found abandoned along Amucha Road in Njaba Local Government Area (LGA) in Orlu Zone, Imo State was identified as the remains of Remi Ogu, a chief magistrate of the neighboring LGA of Oru. Remi and his court clerk, Uju Nwanne, were abducted the day before from their duty post. In March 2019, state police paraded a Friday Nnaekezie, who claimed he orchestrated the kidnapping and murder of the chief magistrate.

The area of ​​Orlu, where Rémi was killed, has become the epicenter of mass atrocities committed in the name of unrest.

Three months before Rémi's murder, in August 2018, unidentified men cremated the High Court and City Magistrates' Court buildings along with all their records and archives.

Four years later, on December 17, 2022, they returned to complete the job.

One of the most vocal voices in the Orlu bar was Darlington Odume, who became a lawyer in 2016. The community admired him for his fighting skills, comparing him to the lion. So they called it "Omekagu".

In mid-September 2021, while he was grocery shopping for his home in Orlu, unidentified gunmen murdered Omekagu.

He was married to a policewoman in a place where...