The Akwa Ibom State High Court in Oron Local Council Area was closed on Wednesday after unknown gunmen kidnapped Justice Joy Unwana and murdered her police orderly, Inspector ThankGod Edet.
According to Platinum Times, Justice Unwana was kidnapped along the Okobo-Esuk Inwang-Ndon Ebom Road. She and her driver, Idorenyin Moses, were taken on their way home from court about 8 p.m. on Monday.
Her kidnappers have yet to make contact with her family or colleagues.
But, speaking at a press conference outside the courthouse on Wednesday, the Oron branch of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, condemned the act and urged the state government and security agencies to conduct an immediate investigation and ensure that the judge and her driver were released as soon as possible.
In a press conference, NBA chairman Torosco Eyene voiced concern that the judge had been kidnapped during a long and final family court session in which she made far-reaching orders in favor of countless abandoned children.
The NBA members, who held placards that said, among other things, “Security Agencies in Oron are highly compromised,” and “We demand tight and urgent security,” vehemently condemned the kidnapping and assassination of Justice Unwana and her police orderly.
They urged the Akwa Ibom State government’s administrative and legislative bodies to make it a deliberate policy to provide enough facilities for judicial autonomy, as established in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.
They also noted that the Okobo Esuk Inwang-Ndon Ebom Road, where the judge was abducted, has become a hotspot for criminal activity due to its serpentine bends and absence of street lighting.
As a result, they requested the state government to investigate the possibility of completing the diverted Uyo-Oron Federal Highway, which runs via Nsit Atai-Okobo to Oron Town.
The NBA members also urged the executive and legislature to conduct a thorough evaluation of the welfare, safety, and working circumstances of judicial officers and staff, including the construction of staff quarters so that judges and judicial personnel may live and work within their jurisdictions.