A human rights activist and the National Convener of the Doing Democracy Movement, Mr. Anyakwe Nsirimovu, has described the late Ken Atsuete, who was murdered on Sunday night as a lawyer, who defended the poor.
Nsirimovu, who was in tears while speaking with The PUNCH, said the slain lawyer was interested in speaking the truth and added that Atsuete died for the truth.
Atsuete, a frontline Port Harcourt-based lawyer and one of the counsels for the former council chairman of Asari-Toru LGA, was said to have been taken away by unknown gunmen suspected to be assassin.
The bandits were said to have shot and left him in a pool of his own blood close to his residence in Aluu, Ikwerre LGA.
Neighbours, who saw him rolling on the ground in pains, rushed him to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, where he was confirmed dead.
Nsirimovu described the deceased, who is from Delta State, as a fearless human rights lawyer, who yearned for a better society, even as he lamented that his friend could be killed in such a gruesome manner.
“He was a fearless human rights lawyer, who was ready to speak the truth at any given time. He defended people in court without collecting money and was not afraid of speaking his mind,” the DDM national convener said amid tears.
Recalling that Atsuete had on Saturday received his wife, Mrs. Atsuete, who had been in London for some time at the airport, Nsirimovu wondered how the wife of the murdered lawyer would be able to withstand the ugly incident.
He said, “Since his (Atsuete’s) wife came back from London, they have all been at home. The woman came back to Nigeria from London on Saturday.
“Ken (Atsuete) was at the airport to welcome his wife and children and now, he is dead. Only God knows what that young lady will do.”