Protesters hit Enugu streets, as NBA AGC enters day *Demand Lawyer Bright Ngene's release from prison

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By Iheanyi Chukwudi

A cross section of Enugu residents on Monday stormed the streets of the Coal City in protest against the imprisonment of Mr Bright Ngene, a member of the Labour Party and member elect of the State House of Assembly.

Ngene, a lawyer, was recently declared winner of alternation Enugu South Urban Constituency rerun election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

He has been in prison for months after he was jailed by a Magistrate Court in the state, in a matter many believed was political.

Apparently in need of justice for the lawyer, the residents used the opportunity of the Nigerian Bar Association Annual Conference holding in Enugu to embark on a peaceful protest to draw the attention of Nigerian lawyers to the continued incarceration of one of them in Enugu State.

Prior to the rerun of the constituency election and Ngene's subsequent declaration as winner of the election, three previous attempts to hold it ended in fracas.

The fourth attempt was almost marred by the altercations between the members of the People Democratic Party (PDP), and the All Progressives Congress (APC), led by the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Hon. Uche Nnaji.

However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Ngene as the winner of the election days later.

The protesters, who are seeking his release, described him as a prisoner of conscience, collaborating his wife's earlier statement to newsmen linking her husband's incarceration to political tussle.