The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), on Saturday, condemned the Friday’s siege laid by security operatives to the Abuja home of a Justice of the Supreme Court, Mary Odili.
In a statement issued on behalf of the association, the president, Olumide Akpata, described the act as an “affront on the judiciary, designed to intimidate and ridicule the judiciary”.
He said the association would hold an emergency meeting of its National Executive Committee (NEC) on the matter.
No date was disclosed in the statement.
“To be clear, last night’s event is an affront on the judiciary and grossly undermines the democracy that we profess to practise.
“In line with the aims and objectives of the NBA which include the protection and defence of the independence of the Judiciary and the rule of law in Nigeria, we will be convening an emergency meeting of the NBA National Executive Committee solely to discuss this issue and take a definitive stand on behalf of the NBA,” Mr Akpata said.
The NBA president also said he would lead a delegation to meet with the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, and the heads of the various security agencies.
This, he said, would be done, “to seek further clarification on the circumstances of this incident.”
‘Those responsible must be brought to book’He added that the NBA would “ensure that all those responsible for this unfortunate incident are brought to book.”
“We must do all that is required to safeguard the independence of our judiciary and indeed protect our hard-won democracy,” he added.
Credit: premiumtimesng.com
