Lawyer dispels rumour surrounding call to bar

A 24-YEAR-old woman, Esther Chukwuemeka,  from Okigwe, Imo State who was denied admission in the Nigerian university for being underaged was on Thursday called to bar.

  Esther, who graduated from Indian University in 2019, now 22, after failed attempt to gain admission into Abia State University, to study law, says, she was misrepresented by the media over her true age, which stated that she was 13 years old, and  a minor at the time and eventually denied her admission to study law in the school that year.

According to Esther, the media report was false and misleading as she was already 16 years old then.

“I really appreciate everyone who has reached out for me. I started my secondary school journey at the age of 9, and completed it at the age of 15, not 13, contrary to what the media peddled .”

In a BBC  pidgin interview,  the young barister said  she was actually 24 years and not 20 as widely reported by the media.

The girl, who is from Okigwe, Imo State, finished her secondary school at the age of 16 and not at the age of 13.

“I got admission to study Political Science in Abia State University at the age of 16 or so. I planned to study law but got Political Science. I started the school but during the process, my director, Pastor Vid Ogu suggested to my parents to work for my admission to study law in India, which my parents obliged. That was how I left to study law in India at the age of 17. I had to start all over again as I had already spent a year at ABSU.

” I spent five years in India and came back to Nigeria in 2019, for my Bar part one and because of the COVID-19, we couldn’t complete our law school that year.

We eventually finished the program this year and that is how my journey has been all the while”.

She urged the public to disregard the information about her age, diseminated by some media as they were false and could continue to mislead the public if not properly restated.

“It was a congratulatory message put through by friends which I acknowledged out of excitement and some reporters latched on that to draw conclusions over my age,”  Easter stated.