By Victor Ahiuma-Young

LAGOS—NIGERIA Labour Congress, NLC, yesterday, demanded for immediate and unconditional release of Mr. Okey Wali, SAN, the immediate past president of the Nigerian Bar Association, SAN, without harm.

The former NBA president was abducted by unknown persons in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Saturday.

NLC in a statement by its General Secretary, Dr. Peter I. Ozo-Eson, said: “We are dismayed by the abduction of Mr. Okey Wali, SAN, the immediate past president of the Nigerian Bar Association. We appeal to his abductors to release him unconditionally and unharmed. Abduction is a criminal act used to extort money from victims or their families or friends. It is also an unacceptable tool of terror which we must all resist or fight.

“We must not succumb to this intimidation. We urge the security forces who have been fighting this scourge to rise to the challenge of rescuing Mr Wali. They need quality intelligence and equipment to get the job done. Their success is also very much contingent upon a vigilant and co-operative public or local populace. We at the Congress earnestly solicit their co-operation at this point in time.”