THE President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Olumide Apata has announced the postponement of the 2022 NBA Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL) Annual Conference scheduled to hold in Sokoto State.
In a statement on Tuesday, the NBA President said the association cancelled the conference over concerns about the security situation in Sokoto following the murder of Deborah Samuel, a female student of Shehu Shagari College of Education.
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Apata explained that the postponement was not only for the safety of the conferees and guests but also a mark of respect for Deborah’s memory.
“The NBA is deeply worried not just by the chilling news of the murder of Miss Deborah Yakubu but also by the sudden and sad turn of events and the deteriorating security situation in Sokoto State.
“As such, having critically reviewed the current security condition in Sokoto, it has become apparent that we cannot guarantee the safety of our guest speakers, delegates and other stakeholders that have committed to attend the NBA-SPIDEL’s conference, which was designed to put the State in the global spotlight for the duration of the conference and beyond.
“Accordingly, the Executive Committee of NBA-SPIDEL came to the painful decision to request, and I have approved, that the 2022 NBA-SPIDEL Annual Conference be postponed not only for the safety of our conferees and guests but as a mark of respect for the memory of the slain Miss Deborah Yakubu, ” the statement said.
Deborah, a 200-Level Home Economics student, was gruesomely murdered and her corpse set ablaze allegedly by her co-students over alleged blasphemy.
Two suspects, Bilyaminu Aliyu and Aminu Hukunchi, who are also students of the college, were arraigned before a Chief Magistrates’ Court which ordered their remand in the Sokoto correction centre.
A reporter with the ICIR
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