A judge of the Kebbi State High Court has been abducted from his residence by suspected armed bandits, in an attack that occurred about 24 hours before it was reported. The kidnapping of a serving member of the bench has drawn swift condemnation, with the Nigerian Bar Association describing it as an assault not only on the judge but on the country's justice system as a whole.
According to the account carried by Channels Television, the gunmen seized the judge from his home in a local government area of Kebbi State before taking him away. As of the time of the report, the judicial officer remained in the hands of his abductors.
The Nigerian Bar Association, in a statement issued by the professional body, strongly condemned the abduction, calling it a brazen attack on a serving judicial officer. The association said such an act strikes directly at the independence and safety of those charged with dispensing justice in the country.
The lawyers' body went further, framing the kidnapping as an attack not merely on one individual but on the Nigerian judiciary, on the administration of justice and on the rule of law itself. It stressed that the security of judicial officers is essential to the functioning of the courts and to public confidence in the legal system.
In its statement, the association called on the security agencies to deploy every available human and technological resource towards ensuring and securing the immediate and safe release of the judge. It urged the authorities to treat the case with the seriousness that an attack on the bench demands.
The association also appealed to the government of Kebbi State to work closely with the federal security agencies so that no effort is spared in rescuing the judge unharmed and in bringing the perpetrators of the abduction to justice. It said the safe recovery of the judge should be treated as a priority by all the authorities involved.