Lawyers practising in Imo State have begun a three-day boycott of courts in the state over the murder of their colleague, Darlington Odume.

Our correspondent, who monitored the development in Owerri on Monday, observed that the state High Court and the Owerri Magistrate’s Court were not in operations.

It was also the same situation in all the courts across the state.

Odume was murdered last week in front of a supermarket in Orlu town in the Orlu Local Government Area of the state.

Lawyers, who spoke to our correspondent, said all the five branches of the Nigerian Bar Association in the state agreed that lawyers boycott court sessions for three days to express their anger at the killing of Odume, who was called to the Bar about six years ago.

Apart from the killing of Odume, a former Chairman of the Owerri branch of the NBA, Ndionyenma Nwankwo, was on February 7, found dead in his office in Owerri.

A lawyer, Ephraim Anthony, told our correspondent that the lawyers were saddened by the killing of their colleagues.

He regretted that six months after Nwankwo was murdered, security operatives had yet to uncover the mystery behind the dastardly act.

He said, “Our former chairman was in February murdered in cold blood in his office. While we were still mourning that painful and irreplaceable loss, our colleague, Darlington Odume, a very promising lawyer, was again killed.

“We are saying enough is enough. Lawyers should not be seen as enemies; we work for humanity. We should be protected and not killed. We want the security agencies to unravel the circumstances behind these killings and bring the perpetrators to justice.”