The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ilorin Branch and the Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Kwara State have engaged in a heated dispute regarding the detention of a lawyer.
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During a press conference in Ilorin, the NBA leadership demanded the immediate transfer of the zonal head, Micheal Nzekwe, and called for a boycott of the commission’s activities, accusing Nzekwe of showing a lack of respect for the rule of law and violating citizens’ rights.
The Ilọrin bar alleged that individuals were being arrested and treated in an undignified manner by the EFCC, with limited access to their family and chosen legal representatives during interrogations.
NBA’s acting chairperson, Aishat Omotayo Temim, and publicity secretary, Ridwan Musa, emphasized that the EFCC, as a government agency, must operate within the confines of the law.
They further claimed that suspects arrested by the EFCC were sometimes coerced into disengaging their family-employed lawyers and accepting EFCC-nominated lawyers as a condition for temporary or permanent freedom. Non-EFCC-nominated lawyers were allegedly treated with contempt, and uncooperative suspects were quickly taken to court to secure convictions at any cost.
The NBA also implied that some of its colleagues might be involved in an improper arrangement, sharing their professional fees with EFCC officials to facilitate such practices.
However, the head of media and publicity of the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, issued a counter-statement, characterizing the NBA’s press release as a form of blackmail and an attempt to intimidate the Ilorin command of the commission.
Uwujaren expressed dismay that the NBA’s statement came at a time when one of its members, Suleiman Toyin Yahaya, was being detained for allegedly tampering with a suspect’s statement under investigation.
While the EFCC is open to investigating any allegations of unprofessional conduct by its personnel, Uwujaren stressed that those making such claims must provide evidence to support their accusations.
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