Slain Delta lawyers: Midwest Bar Forum urges IG, DSS to fish out killers

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM BENIN—THE Mid-west Bar Forum, MBF, of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, has described the killing of two lawyers in Delta State, as a calculated attempt to intimidate the Bar and the Bench in the discharge of their duties. It called on the Police and Department of State Security, DSS, to investigate the matter and fish out the perpetrators. MBF, in a statement by its chairman, Chief Fred Orbih, SAN, noted that prior to the murder, “Horace Dafiaghor, had reportedly complained to the court, colleagues and the police of threats to his life, which he had been receiving through phone calls. “It is instructive that on the aforementioned date that both lawyers were murdered, they were said to be on their way to court in the morning. Information filtered in later in the day that Dafiaghor and his said junior colleague were shot at close range on their heads and both of them died on the spot. The assailants did not take any valuable item from the deceased colleagues.” Vowing not leave any stone unturned in its bid to ensure that the perpetrators were brought to book, it noted “we take exception to the surreptitious attempt to intimidate the Bar and the Bench in the discharge of their duties. ” Let it be known that the Forum will defend the integrity of the Bar and the independence of the judiciary at all times no matter the circumstances. “We call on the Inspector General of Police, Assistant Inspector General, AIG zone 5 Benin, the Commissioner of Police Delta State and the Director of DSS to carry out a prompt and thorough investigation into the killings, with a view to bringing the perpetrators and their sponsors to book within the shortest possible time,” it stated.