By our reporter 28.9.2025
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Sunday called on the Federal government and its security agencies to move fast and rescue a young female lawyer Peace Udoka and her younger sister who were taken by gunmen in Kogi State.
Udoka, her sister was grabbed by the gunmen a day after she was called to the bar. They were travelling from Abuja to Benin City in company of others when they were ambushed along the Lokoja-Okene highway on Saturday.
“The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) @NigBarAssoc has received with shock and deep concern the distressing reports of the abduction of one of our young colleagues, Onyesom Peace Udoka, a newly called lawyer, alongside her sister, around the Lokoja–Okene axis in Kogi State while returning from the recent Call to Bar Ceremony in Abuja,” NBA President, Afam Osigwe, posted on X Sunday.
“This tragic development is unacceptable and utterly condemnable. It is heartbreaking that at a time when our nation should be celebrating the future of the legal profession, young lawyers and their families are subjected to such harrowing ordeals. No family should have to endure this trauma, and no citizen should live under the constant fear of insecurity on our roads.
“The NBA strongly calls on the Federal Government and all relevant security agencies to rise to the occasion, act with urgency, and ensure the immediate and safe release of our colleague and all others in captivity. The safety and security of Nigerians cannot continue to be treated with levity. It is the primary duty of government to protect the lives of its citizens, and this duty must be discharged with the seriousness it deserves.
“We further demand intensified and sustained action to secure our highways and restore public confidence in the ability of government to guarantee the safety of all who travel across the country.”
The Lokoja-Okene axis, linking the federal capital to the southwest, has become a hotspot for kidnappings. On September 8, gunmen attacked an 18-seater bus, killing one person and abducting three passengers.
Udoka... waiting to be rescued.