2nd May, 2013
Nnamdi Felix / Abuja
The Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, has condemned the killing of innocent civilians by Nigerian security operatives in Baga, Borno state, Northern Nigeria. The association stated that government should not have allowed the civilian massacre to happen.
NBA President, Mr. Okechukwu Wali, a senior advocate of Nigeria disclosed the association’s position Thursday in Abuja and insisted that what happened in Baga, where innocent civilians were massacred by soldiers, should not have happened in any civilized society.
Wali said: “The NBA has repeatedly called for rule of law. We are in very difficult times, due to Boko Haram and other insurgents.
The NBA President stated that when the association called for amnesty for the insurgents, that it was not because of love for the insurgents but out of the belief that law enforcement has failed to stem the activities of the insurgents adding that Nigeria must shift attention to crime prevention.
Wali also stated that the association was not comfortable with the punishment of Justice Abubakar Talba of the Abuja High Court by the National Judicial Council.
He restated NBA’s call for adherence to the rule of law adding that there is an urgent need to amend the nation’s obsolete laws to save Nigerian judges from being intimidated in giving judgments.
The fate that had befallen Justice Talba, the NBA President believes, could result in judges being intimidated. He however said that the NBA had written to the NJC for a full disclosure of what transpired and promised to make the association’s position on the issue public as soon as it received a response from the NJC.
“We have always maintained that there was nothing wrong with the judgment. We are getting to a situation where our judges will be getting intimidated. We learned that the prosecution had gone on appeal and we had thought that the NJC should have waited for the outcome of that appeal” he added.
On the demand by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for lawyers to register with the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering, SCUML, which may not be unconnected with the alleged role of notable senior advocate of Nigeria in laundering stolen monies for former Delta state governor, Mr. James Onanefe Ibori, the NBA President stated that the association is opposed to such and had filed a case against the CBN over the issue.
“We do not believe that anybody outside the legal profession should regulate the profession for us, we went to court, we sued the AGF praying the court to over turn the directive because it amounts to a breach of solicitor-client relationship.