The Legal Community was welcomed with surprise, following the utterance of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, that he has withdrawn his support for NBA Rivers. He was said to have taken this stand whilst giving an address at the opening session of the 2019/2020 Legal year of the Rivers State judiciary in Port-Harcourt. He had dubbed the NBA Rivers as enemy of Rivers people for playing politics with security.

This statement of His Excellency is simply a reaction to the decision of the branch to withdraw the services of its members from the courts in the state over the increasing rate of assassinations and abductions. The recent kidnapping of Iyke Emelogu at Eneka Comminuty in Obio Akpor LGA, Sunday Wonmo, Monima Omuboye and David Uranta were examples of the incessant act complained by the branch.

In a chat with TheNigerialawyer (TNL), however, the chairman of NBA Rivers, Mr. Slyvester Adaka, said that there was no time he threatened the Governor at the press conference. According to him, they only complained about the lives of their members, who are under threat, and this, they will do by withdrawing their services for kidnap suspects, armed robbers, etc., if the trend continues. He added that it is this complaint some people have blown out of proportion.

Hear him:

“There was no time I threatened the Governor at the press conference. There was a press conference by the eight branches of the NBA, there was no time I threatened the Governor. There are some persons who are close to the Governor, and who for some reasons, have their grievances, and they have done their best since I came into office to tarnish my image. It’s been a continues process, not something started today. I have told them that I am not fighting; they can do whatever they want. There was no where I threatened the Governor. All we said was that, we will withdraw our services for kidnap suspects if the trend continues.

“If we feel that our members are under threats, for some reasons or the other, don’t we have a right to complain? It is that complaint that some people have blown out of proportion. But it is not all that is happening that everybody is seeing, not even myself. I have to also watch my back to my own safety. I am not a politician, I have no political ambition. I have no reason to attack the Governor. I am too well groomed and well trained to attack constituted authorities, even if I do not agree with them.”

Speaking further, he also said that even the statement attributed to the Governor which is going viral is not a true representation of what the Governor said, and probably, that is how they have distorted the press conference with the Governor.

The narration given above reveals that all seem not to be well. It is either, what has gone viral is not a true reflection of what transpired at the press conference or, the Governor was just infuriated by the step the NBA took by speaking against the insecurity in the land. But whatever the case may be: is it justified for the Governor to say that he has withdrawn his support for NBA Rivers? I do not think so. Governor Wike as a legal practitioner should understand that the NBA is a voice of the voiceless. As a body of legal practitioners, it has a duty to speak against every ill in the society. The so-called ultimatum given by the chapter over insecurity in the state, if at all true, is one of the conventional steps taken by bodies like NBA. Previous patronage or support by the state government should not in our opinion be the reason why the branch should keep mute. To this writer, it is such step, instead, that will be interpreted as playing politics with insecurity and not the other way round.

Also, assuming but not affirming that the NBA kept quiet when they closed down courts in 2013, or when thugs invaded the High Court premises in Rivers State, that should not in all sincerity bar the Bar from speaking subsequently on an issue like the current one which is now a trending storm.

Governor Wike should understand that the NBA is only doing what it is expected to do, and the decision to withdraw his support for the branch will not do the state any good. It will instead affect the association in one way or the other, and not create any understanding in the combat against these heartless kidnappers.

To us at this end, NBA Rivers have done well, and it has been named the NBA branch of the month. Just as branches of the NBA such as the Benin, Ikorodu, Abuja, branches and others, the NBA Rivers has been able to speak against injustice and criminality in the greatest respect, and other branches are encouraged to do so when the need arises.

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