NBA slams “fake lawyers”, says convener “is not a name known to us”
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
“Lawyers” who on Monday protested against the attempted arrest of former Kogi Governor Yahaya Bello by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are a rented crowd of fake lawyers whose “supposed leader or convener Sylvanus K. Alewu is not a name known to us,” the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has alerted the public.
A group called Judicial Watchdogs staged the protest on the premises of the Supreme Court in Abuja, describing as illegal the way the anti-graft buster laid siege to Bello’s house in the city on April 17 to grab him when he failed to honour invitation for questioning over an alleged N86 billion fraud committed before he became Governor in 2016.
The group comprising about 500 “lawyers” faulted the siege in spite of a subsisting exparte court order prohibiting the arrest, investigation, or prosecution of Bello pending the hearing and determination of a substantive suit.
However, Chidi Odinkalu, a respected Professor of law and former Human Rights Chair, disclosed in an article in TheNiche on April 21 how the court order itself was hurriedly and likely unlawfully obtained in Lokoja with the aid of Kogi Governor Usman Ododo – Bello’s cousin whom he hand-picked as successor – while the siege was going on in Abuja.
Odinkalu wrote: “According to the order of the judge, the case which was filed over two months earlier on 8 February, was hurriedly assigned while the siege was on going in Abuja, argued, heard and decided and the judge quickly signed the order and handed it to Governor Ododo to take with him to Abuja from where he spirited his cousin away from legal process in a blaze of gunfire.
“The court was almost assuredly disingenuous about the date of filing. In all likelihood, the case was filed same day on 17 April and then back-dated.”
In reaction, NBA National Publicity Secretary Habeeb Lawal on Tuesday issued a notice which insisted the protesters are not lawyers.
The notice reads: “The above report refers.
“The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is aware that some news outlets have reported this news.
“Please be informed that while the NBA respects the rights of citizens to assemble and protest, we insist that this particular group of persons are not lawyers.
“For completeness, their supposed leader or convener Sylvanus K. Alewu is not a name known to us.”
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