A human rights lawyer and counsel for the Indigenous People of Biafra, Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has called on the Nigerian Bar Association at both state and national levels to demand a transparent investigation into the brutal murder of a lawyer, Mr Rolex Iloakasia, in Anambra State.
The PUNCH had reported that Iloakasia and his client were killed by yet-to-be-identified assailants at the Nanka/Agulu boundary in Orumba North Local Government Area of the state, shortly after a court session on Thursday.
Reacting to the development in a press statement released on Friday, Ejiofor described the killing as a “targeted execution” which has sent a chilling message to the legal community and a direct assault on the justice system.
He lamented that the persistent killing of lawyers in Anambra has assumed a worrisome development and urged the NBA to convene an emergency meeting with the Anambra State government and security agencies to implement protective measures for legal practitioners immediately.
The statement read, “I write with a heavy heart and burning indignation over the cold-blooded assassination of Rolex Iloakasia, a respected colleague, who until his death, was President-General of Aguleri community, and his client – a brutal crime that occurred on Thursday, May 15, 2025, at the Nanka-Agulu boundary in Orumba North Local Government Area, Anambra State.
“According to credible reports, the late lawyer had just concluded a sensitive legal engagement in court and was returning with his client when gunmen ambushed them on a motorcycle. The attackers opened fire with lethal precision, killing both men on the spot.
“A third passenger narrowly escaped with injuries and is currently receiving treatment.
“This was no random act of banditry. It was a targeted execution – a chilling message to the legal community and a direct assault on the justice system itself.
“This heinous act fits an increasingly familiar and disturbing pattern: lawyers in Anambra State are being hunted, silenced, and killed with impunity. This is not just a threat to the legal profession – it is a grave danger to the very fabric of our democracy.
“Therefore, I call upon the Nigerian Bar Association – at both the state and national levels – to rise to this moment with decisive action to demand a full-scale, transparent, and expedited investigation into the murder of Iloakasia and his client. The perpetrators must not escape justice.”
He added that the NBA should declare a period of mourning, during which all legal professionals in Anambra will wear black armbands and suspend non-essential court appearances in solemn protest.
“They should convene an emergency meeting with the Anambra State Government and security agencies to implement protective measures for legal practitioners immediately.
“Document and revisit all previous attacks on members of the Bar in Anambra State. We must insist on resolution and justice for every unresolved killing.
“Prepare for a statewide boycott of court proceedings if credible action is not initiated within a clearly defined timeline.
“Let it be known: We will not be intimidated into silence. Legal practitioners must never be forced to operate under the shadow of death. Today, it is Barr. Iloakasia. Tomorrow, it could be any of us,” he added.
According to him, the killing is not just an attack on individuals, but an attack on the rule of law, on due process, and on the values that hold our society together.
“To the family of the late Iloakasia, the Aguleri community, the Nigerian Bar Association, and the wider legal fraternity: I offer my deepest condolences. May their souls find peace, and may justice – swift, unwavering, and complete – be done. Silence is complicity. Injustice to one is injustice to all,” the statement added.
