International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has demanded the immediate and unconditional release of six students from the Nigerian Law School (NLS), who were abducted by gunmen while travelling from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Yola, Adamawa State, over the weekend.
The rights group called on Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State to collaborate with the Commissioner of Police (CP) as well as the governors and CPs of Benue and Taraba states to ensure the students’ safe return to their Yola branch of NLS.
The victims, Rev Ernest Okafor, Ogbuka Fabian, Nwamma Philip, Okechukwu Obadiegwu, Obalem Emmanuel and Obiorah David had completed their mandatory five-year Law programme and recently enrolled in another mandatory ‘one-year’ programme at NLS in Yola. They were abducted within the boundaries of Benue and Taraba while travelling to Yola from Onitsha to resume their programme.
Intersociety, in a statement by the Chairman, Emeka Umeagbalasi, emphasised the urgent need for the release of the young lawyers, adding: “Anambra cannot afford to lose such six young and brilliant lawyers whose future values and importance to the state are immeasurable.”
The group also brought to the attention of the Anambra CP, Ikioye Orutugu, and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Community Security, Ken Emeakai, a potential communal violence between Uli community in Ihiala Local Council of Anambra and Egbuoma community, Oguta Local Council of Imo State over the arrest of Kosarachi Ohajuba by operatives of Uli Central Vigilante.
It urged immediate investigation into the leaders and some operatives of the Uli Central Vigilante Group for alleged mass murder and other violent crimes in the area.
They highlighted the case of Ohajuba, a native of Egbuoma, Imo State, who had been held by the vigilante group since June 20, 2025, with an alleged ransom tag of N2 million placed on his head.
The group mentioned that it had previously notified Governor Soludo through a petition about the escalating tensions and violence in the Egbuoma community due to the actions of Uli Central Vigilante Group. Intersociety attached a list of purported heinous activities of the security outfit, including the names of 10 slain indigenes of the community in Oguta.
They called for the investigation, arrest and prosecution of the leaders and operatives of Uli Central Vigilante Group, as well as their disbandment or their violent actions since 2022.
