LAWYERS ACCUSE POLICE AUTHORITIES OF HUMAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001140

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KCRM NI HUMANRIGHTS
SUBJECT: LAWYERS ACCUSE POLICE AUTHORITIES OF HUMAN
RIGHTS ABUSES



1. Summary: The uneasy relationship between the
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the Nigerian Police
continues in Kogi State and Abuja. In late March in
Kogi State, the NBA accused the police force of
committing "gross" Human Rights abuses, while the
police responded that the lawyers were helping
criminals escape justice. Meanwhile, NBA members in
Abuja asked the police to stop acting as prosecutors in
court, a role the lawyers say is exclusively theirs.
The national executive council of NBA called on the
Justice Minister to immediately direct the Inspector
General of Police and his police commissioners to
"desist forthwith from engaging in the initiation and
prosecution of criminal cases in the law courts." End
Summary.

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Accusations Fly in Kogi State
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2. On March 23, 2005, a dispute between members of the
Nigerian Bar Association and Nigerian Police, erupted
in Lokoja, capital of the Middle Belt state of Kogi.
The NBA's Kogi State chairman, Salisu Umar, called a
press conference at the auditorium of the Nigerian
Union of Journalists (NUJ) to accuse the Kogi State
Commissioner of Police (COP),Mr. Bamidele Thomas, of
committing gross human rights abuses in the state. He
issued an ultimatum to the Police Headquarters for the
removal of the COP within seven days. Umar accused the
COP of disregarding the rule of law, detaining suspects
in police cells without charges for more than 24 hours,
personally collecting money as a condition for granting
bail, and refusing to release suspects even on court
orders.


3. The lawyer accused the accused the Edo State-born
COP of "terrorizing and clamping into unlawful
detention at the CID cell and other detention centers
scores of indigenes of Kogi State." He said, "in fact,
the Kogi State police headquarters is now a
concentration camp; innocent people are dying daily in
their cells with no medical care and food, while even
students between the ages of 16-20 are chained among
hardened criminals." According to Umar, the NBA is
upset at the human rights violations committed by the
Police. "Every day," he alleged, the COP carries out
unlawful arrests, and courts cannot stop him because
"he has failed to even carry out court orders." The
Kogi state NBA called on all lawyers in the country to
stand up against "police interference" and defend "the
integrity and dignity of the courts by insisting that
the police at all levels obey legitimate court orders."


4. In a swift reaction, the COP, Mr. Bamidele Thomas,
himself a trained lawyer, held a press conference that
day, claiming that the lawyers were being
"uncharitable" to him. He accused the lawyers in the
state of abetting criminals and said the accusation of
human rights violations was untrue. "On different
occasions, I have reported some judges to the state
chief judge to caution them, on how they release
confessed armed robbers," Thomas said. "When we arrest
armed robbers who even confessed to the crime, the same
lawyers will run to the court to seek bail for [them],
and the court will grant them bail because the lawyers
have misled the judges." He accused some politicians
in the state of engineering the NBA call for his
removal.

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And the Quarrel Continues in Abuja
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5. On March 30, the Abuja NBA also protested the ill
treatment lawyers receive when they come to police
stations on their clients' behalf. Mr. Jude Okeke,
Abuja NBA chairman also questioned the propriety of
police standing in as prosecutors in courts, a role Mr.
Okeke said belongs exclusively to lawyers. Okeke
accused the police of "frustrating" lawyers by losing
records of court proceedings and records of suspects in
police custody. He described "most embarrassing
instances of reported cases of missing police records."

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The NBA's Governing Body Enters the Fray
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6. In February 2005, the NBA national executive
council held a conference in the northeast state of
Adamawa to discuss, among other issues, police
interference in the judicial process. A communique
signed by the NBA National Secretary, Mr. Nimi Walson-
Jack, called on the Justice Minister and Federal
Attorney-General, Chief Akin Olujimi, and his
counterparts at the state level to "desist forthwith
from engaging in the initiation and prosecution of
criminal cases in the law courts either directly or
through police prosecutors posted to the magistrate
courts." According to the communique, "NBA holds the
position that the exercise by the police of the power
of initiation and prosecution of criminal cases
constitutes an unwholesome incursion into the exclusive
rights and privileges of qualified legal practitioners,
who alone should have the right to plead any person's
cause in our law courts."

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Comment
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7. Months later, accusations continue between lawyers
and the police, and recent incidents continue to fuel
the disputes. Administration of justice is greatly
delayed and quick dispensation of justice obviously
denied.

CAMPBELL