Akwa Ibom Women Protest Lawyer’s Assault On Wife

Akwa Ibom women, including female government officials, took to the streets in Uyo on Monday in protest of the assault carried out by a lawyer in the state, Barr Ekere Ebong against his wife.

TheNewsDesk recalls that in a viral video, the said lawyer was seen assaulting and dehumanizing his wife.

Different groups, including the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, NAWOJ, have risen to condemn the action of the lawyer who is now in police custody on the orders of the Commissioner of Police, CP Olatoye Durosinmi.

The protesters were seen marching along Wellington Bassey Way, a road leading to the government house, chanting songs, while displaying placards with inscriptions such as: “Women are not punch bags, “Barr Ekere Ebong must go off the bar,” “Women rights are human rights,” “Love a woman, don’t beat a woman,” among others

The protesting women led by the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Dr Ini Adiakpan noted that the state government has zero-tolerance for gender-based violence and indeed any other form of violence.

Meanwhile, the governor, pastor Umo Eno, through his Chief Press Secretary, Ekerete Udoh promised to assist the victim in getting justice in line with the provisions of the law against Gender-Based Violence (GBV).

The governor, while calling on the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, to also institute disciplinary measures to punish Mr. Ebong, whose conduct as a lawyer, he said “is against the values and ethics of the noble profession”, said, “Mr. Ebong’s outrageous and egregious display of violence is totally alien to our culture and he will face the full wrath of the law.”