NBA in a statement jointly signed by the Chairman and Secretary of its National Litigation Committee, Ama Etuwewe, SAN and Isah Abubakar Aliyu respectively demand accountability from the police personnel involved.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has strongly condemned the brutal assault on lawyer Ernest Chukwuemeka Okpaga by police officers at the Nigeria Police Force National Cyber Crime Centre in Abuja.
NBA in a statement jointly signed by the Chairman and Secretary of its National Litigation Committee, Ama Etuwewe, SAN and Isah Abubakar Aliyu respectively demand accountability from the police personnel involved.
According to the statement, the incident occurred on December 19, 2024, while Okpaga was representing his client, Abiodun Olamide Thomas, who had been detained for a week without medical attention despite her deteriorating health.
SaharaReporters reported on Thursday that the detained female human rights activist, Olamide Thomas, collapsed at the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) in Abuja due to health complications.
Abiodun, who suffers from asthma and peptic ulcer, had been bleeding since Monday, SaharaReporters had reported.
SaharaReporters reported that the female human rights activist, was arrested last Friday in her Lagos home for criticising the excesses of Nigeria Police Force officers, and subsequently moved to Abuja on the instructions of the Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun.
Unfortunately, due to deteriorating health condition, Abiodun, a professional nurse collapsed after giving her statement, prompting Okpaga, her counsel to demand immediate medical care.
Instead, the police ordered Okpaga’s assault and detention in an interrogation room alongside his unconscious client. When Okpaga resisted, police officers physically assaulted him.
Condemning the excesses and impunity in the Nigerian Police Force, the NBA described the attack on Okpaga as “heinous and unwarranted”, noting that it is a clear indication that some police officers have no regard for decency and the rule of law.
Nigerian Bar Association Condemns Police Assault On Activist Olamide Thomas’s Lawyer
