A host of leaders of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and opinion moulders have taken turns to knock the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for its statement denying the act of the brutalisation of the NBA Makurdi Chairman, Mr. Justin Gbagir at its Makurdi Office.
THE SQUIB exclusively reports that Dr. Monday Ubani, the Chairman of the Section on Public Interest and Development Law ( SPIDEL) of the Nigerian Bar Association, Adesina Adegbite, former National Welfare Secretary and the Radical Agenda Movement in the Nigerian Bar Association ( RAMINBA) has taken turns to condemn the assault on the NBA Makurdi Branch.
However, THE SQUIB exclusively reports that the President of the Nigerian Bar Association , Olumide Akpata has not issued an official statement on the matter, which have been lingering for days.
THE SQUIB obtained from sources that Mr. Olumide Akpata took up the matter with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa over the battering of the NBA Makurdi Branch Chairman, Mr. Justin Gbagir, who requested time to investigate the matter and take necessary action.
However, the response of the EFCC was to issue a statement denying the alleged assault. According to the statement of the EFCC, it was the Makurdi Branch Chairman who “was the aggressor as he led a gang of thugs to breach the security of the Makurdi office in an attempt to forcibly set free a suspect under interrogation by the EFCC.”
The statement, which was obtained by THE SQUIB also indicated that the Bar Leader allegedly failed to identify himself and that “the EFCC Zonal Head had no option than to show him out of his office and refuse him further entry into the Commission’s premises.”
As at press time, since the issuance of the statement of the EFCC, there is no official statement from the Office of the President of the NBA on the statement of the EFCC, though THE SQUIB obtained from sources that " the President is involved in the matter from the beginning".
In a related development, NBA Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL) Chairman, Mr. Monday Ubani said that several sources confirmed the assault to him, even as the under-fire Zonal Head denied the allegation. In a social media post obtained by THE SQUIB, he stated : “I have spoken to the Chairman of Makurdi who confirmed the beating. He is back to hospital. I have also spoken to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Legal Matters who confirmed the incident. I eventually got the President of the Bar who affirmed that the AG confirmed the beating. Our President has spoken to the Chairman of EFCC who requested for time to investigate and take action.”
He however said the Zonal Head denied “that he never touched nor directed any of his operatives to touch our member. He denied the beating.”
In a similar development, Mr. Adesina Adegbite, the former National Welfare Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association also issued a statement decrying the assault.
In the statement, Mr. Adegbite stated thus:
*Yet Another Unjustifiable Attack on A Serving NBA Branch Chairman!!!*
I read this morning, the report of the unwarranted brutal assault of the Chairman, NBA Makurdi Branch, Mr. Justin Gbagir, by the EFCC operatives in Makurdi, Benue State with great indignation. I was compelled to ask the following questions:
1. When will this type of madness stop in Nigeria, really?
2. What kind of a barbaric security/law enforcement system do we operate in our country?
3. How long shall we tolerate the animalistic tendencies of the law enforcement officers who appear to have adopted a criminal code of conduct, especially against lawyers, which entails violent assault (physical or verbal) against a lawyer each time one visited their offices, in the the course of his lawful duty?
4. For how long will the Nigerian Bar Association tolerate these mad dogs that are being paid with our taxes, but will rather unleash terror on us, at nearly every point of forced and lawful official engagement?
We had seen lawyers and Bar leaders assaulted in Okutipupa, Ondo State, it has happened in Orlu/Owerri, Imo State, it also happened in several other States including but not limited to Lagos, Oyo, Abia and Akwa Ibom States respectively and so many other States in Nigeria. I have had cause to raise this alarm in the past. Now it has happened again in Makurdi, Benue State. When exactly will enough be enough? I think it is time we rose with a clear message that this type of atrocity shall no longer be tolerated anymore and insist that the perpetrators of all reported cases of assaults on our colleagues be brought to justice with maximum sanctions imposed against them. It is apparent that the continuous misbehaviour of officers of various security agencies in Nigeria, especially the Police Force and the EFCC, against legal practitioners is borne out superiority challenge. It is a case of sustained impunity of some self deluded officers who are battling for supremacy over the legal profession and it's practitioners
It is my most humbly considered view that the Nigerian Bar Association should use this latest incident to make a Very Loud Statement and devise an Action Plan that will ensure, that NEVER AGAIN, shall any assault on any of our colleague(s) by any misfit officer(s) who criminally exploited his/her security agency's membership, to rein havoc of physical assault or any form of harassment on a legal practitioner go unpunished.
Enough Is Belatedly Enough!
*Ade Adegbite FICMC (AA)*
*Past National Welfare Secretary*"
Equally, the Chairman of the Radical Agenda Movement in the Nigerian Bar Association ( RAMINBA), Mr. Adesina Ogunlana , who is also former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Ikeja Branch and Ayo Ademiluyi, Secretary of RAMINBA respectively in a statement called for the Investigation and prosecution of the indicted officers up to the Head of the Makurdi Office of the EFCC. RAMINBA also called on Mr. Justin Gbagir to institute a fundamental rights action against the operatives.
Below is the full text of the EFCC statement.
EFCC Press Release
EFCC Denies Assaulting NBA Chairman
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC wishes to inform the public that claims by one Justin Gbagir, Chairman Makurdi Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, that he was assaulted and brutalized by operatives of the Makurdi Zonal Office of the Commission on June 8, 2021, leading to his being hospitalized at BUSTH is false, and orchestrated to portray the Commission as draconian and uncivil.
Contrary to the false narrative being promoted in the social media by Gbagir, he was the aggressor as he led a gang of thugs to breach the security of the Makurdi office in an attempt to forcibly set free a suspect under interrogation by the EFCC.
The standard procedure for effecting the release of suspects in detention is known to even rookie lawyers. But rather than follow due process, Gbagir opted for force, recruited thugs and stormed the EFCC office.
In spite of the provocation, operatives of the Commission handled him with restraint, bent backward by allowing him to meet with the Zonal Head. But rather than reciprocate, he still refused to identify himself, against all norms of civility. In the circumstance, the EFCC Zonal Head had no option than to show him out of his office and refuse him further entry into the Commission’s premises.
Regrettably, the seasoned lawyer resorted to social media blackmail, posing in hospital bed and concocting a fantastic story of an imaginary assault by EFCC operatives.
His action is to say the least indecorous and unbecoming of the leader of the bar in a state like Benue. He demonstrated embarrassing insensitivity to the delicate security situation of the state.
Gbagir should be remorseful for his misguided action and not spew untruths in pliable sections of the media.
Wilson Uwujaren
Head, Media & Publicity
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