A DEMOCRACY IN CHAINS!:
WE DEMAND FREEDOM FOR THE OYO 39 CAPTIVES

DEMOCRACY DAY MESSAGE BY OKEY LEO OHAGBA – CANDIDATE FOR NBA GENERAL SECRETARY

Beloved Bar leaders, colleagues, and friends,

Today, our celebrations are profoundly muted. We cannot in good conscience ignore the painful reality that 39 innocent schoolchildren and their teachers, abducted from the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, remain in the harrowing custody of terrorists. How do we celebrate freedom when the Oyo 39 have been denied theirs?

A democracy that cannot safeguard the classrooms of its pupils or protect the lives of its educators is a democracy in dire need of soul-searching. The continued captivity of these innocent children and tutors is a collective injury to our national conscience and a direct assault on the fundamental rights and freedoms we claim to commemorate today. It is, indeed, a democracy in chains!

As members of the legal profession and custodians of justice, we must lend our voices to this tragedy. Advocacy must step outside the comfort of our courtrooms. We must firmly demand that the government and all relevant security agencies escalate tactical, innovative, and decisive measures to ensure the immediate, unconditional, and safe return of the Oyo 39 and their teachers, 28 days after their abduction.

True democratic progress will elude us until every child can seek education without fear, and every citizen is secure within our borders.

Let us stand together and demand accountability and institutional responsibility.

Free the school children!
Free their teachers!!
Bring back the Oyo 39!!!

Okey Leo Ohagba, Esq.

• Past NBA 1st Asst. General Secretary
• Candidate for NBA General Secretary

#BringbackOyo39