- Safiu Kehinde
A group of protesters has on Monday stormed the ongoing Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) annual general conference at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Enugu in agitation for the release jailed state Assembly lawmaker, Barr. Bright Ngene.
The protesters confirmed to be Ngene supporters and constituents of the Enugu South Urban State Constituency arrived at the venue of the conference with placards and banners demanding the release of Ngene who despite currently serving a seven-jail term was declared winner of the by-election held in the state earlier this month.
NPO Reported that the lawyer and member of the Labour Party under which he won the by-election, was sentenced to seven-year imprisonment on the 28th of July 2024 following his conviction by a magistrate court over a community dispute.
His supporters had at the protest labelled his imprisonment as politically motivated as they marched to the NBA conference with placards containing different inscriptions.
Some of the placards read “NBA please help release Barr. to represent his constituency,” “The people’s choice is not a crime,” “Say no to miscarriage of justice. Free the people’s choice,” “Enugu State judiciary must be independent from the executive,” and “Oppression is injustice” amongst others.
Addressing newsmen, the spokesperson of the group, Kachukwu Benedict, said that Ngene was unjustly incarcerated over baseless charges.
“We are here to register our peaceful protest to tell the world what has been happening in Enugu State for the past one year. Since July 28, 2024, Hon. Bright Emeka Ngene, who won the House of Assembly seat for Enugu South Urban, has been unjustly incarcerated,” Benedict said.
“Charges against him were baseless, judicial processes were not followed, and in less than two weeks judgment was dispensed. Efforts to get the matter before the High Court have proved abortive as judges continue to recuse themselves, while the Chief Judge has refused to assign the case. This is the highest point of injustice meted out to anybody,
“We are not afraid of going through the judicial process. No matter the judgment that comes, we will accept it in good faith. But up till now, the case has been in comatose at the High Court. All we are asking is that the judiciary be allowed to do its job,” Benedict said.