JUST IN: Pressure On Gov Tambuwal As NBA Protests Murder Of Deborah Yakubu, Postpones Conference

The Nigerian Bar Association has piled further pressure on the Sokoto State Government to ensure proper prosecution of suspected killers of a Christian Student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, by postponing it’s annual conference billed to hold in the state.

The NBA Section on Public Interest and Development Law( SPIDEL) conference slated for Sokoto to hold from May 22 to May 26, 2022 has now been postponed due to the gruesome murder of Ms.Yakubu by a mob.

Chairman of NBA SPIDEL, Dr. Monday Onyekachi Ubani, stated on Tuesday that Nigerian lawyers are in agreement that justice for Yakubu should be pursued to a logical conclusion.

Yakubu was burnt by a mob who accused her of alleged blasphemy but the police command in the state which confirmed the incident on Friday had arrested and arraigned some suspects while declaring others wanted.

Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN had urged NBA-SPIDEL to make a statement to the government by canceling the Conference and holding it in a neighboring state in the North.

But Ubani had on Friday disagreed with the call to boycott the conference, maintaining that the state government that is hosting the event “is not complicit in this heinous crime unless there is evidence to the contrary.”

However, Ubani on Tuesday stated that the NBA President Olumide Akpata has now instructed that the conference be postponed over the sad development.

The statement reads:

“NBA and NBA-SPIDEL have postponed the 2022 Spidel Conference billed for Sokoto. The reasons are not far-fetched. The gruesome murder of Deborah Yakubu, the subsequent unrest that accompanied the unfortunate incident are all implicated.

“Official Statement to that effect has been issued by the President of the Bar Mr Olumide Akpata. Further communication on the status of the Conference shall be made in due course. Note that NBA will pursue adequate justice for Miss DEBORAH! Our apologies for the inconveniences occasioned by this sudden postponment, gentlemen and ladies.”