The Enugu West Senatorial Zone Lawyers Forum has condemned what they called “the hasty conclusion” by the Nigeria Police on the attempted assassination of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, on Tuesday.
The chairman of the forum, Mr. Peter Ajah, made the assertion during a peaceful protest in Enugu on Thursday.
Ajah explained that the forum, made up of over 100 lawyers, was worried because Ekweremadu, who is one of them, deserved protection like every other Nigerian.
He recalled that a few days ago, the Abuja residence of the deputy senate president was invaded by hoodlums.
The legal practitioner said that when he heard the news of his assassination attempt, he was shocked “because of the rate at which his life was being threatened.”
“Recall that in November 2015, there was an assassination attempt on the same man. Not up to two months ago, his house was surrounded by some military personnel and he was held hostage in his own house.
“You will also recall that not quite long ago, he was also prevented from going to perform his legislative responsibility of which he was sent to the National Assembly to do.
“The deputy senate president has contributed so much to the growth of South-East, Nigeria and mankind and he has impacted so much in the political history of the zone.
“We have to keep an eye on the incident and condemn the continuous attack on Ekweremadu and his entire family,’’ he said.
Contributing, the Secretary of the forum, Mr. Seth Nwaokoro, said that he was not comfortable with the report of the Nigeria Police.
Nwaokoro said that a couple of hours after the attempted assassination occurred, the police came up to say that it was a mere burglary, without proper investigation.
He said that it baffled him so much that the Nigeria Police could not investigate a matter and issue a conclusion.
The lawyer urged the Nigeria Police to live up to its expectations to ensure that lives and properties were safeguarded.
“This is an assassination attempt, for crying out loud. They cannot just come and tell us that it was a mere burglary, while they have not investigated the matter.
“An investigation cannot start and end in one day,’’ he said.
The forum urged President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Nigeria Police to do the needful to ensure peace in the country.
(NAN)
