- Rather than promoting the rule of law, we have turned our noble association to petty political association that fights mundane issues …
By J .S Okutepa, SAN
A Nigerian lawyer, Pius Awoke Esq of NBA Abakalike branch, was arrested in 2021 for an offence that is not too clear to many till date. After about three years in detention, he was said to have been released on 21st June 2024.
Some are celebrating it. Some are taking credits for his release. For me there is nothing to celebrate for the release of any Nigerian citizen much more, a lawyer from detention after three years after arrest. It shows how our law enforcement agents are trampling and have trampled upon the liberties and freedom of hapless and defenceless Nigerians.
I am not one of those celebrating the release of Pius Awoke Esq. Rather, I weep that as lawyers, we have collectively and individually failed to protect and defend justice and ourselves against and from the unlawful invasions of not only the liberties of Nigerians but also the liberties and freedoms of Nigerian lawyers by our overzealous security agencies and indeed the institutions of justice put in place by law to protect and secure the liberties of all Nigerians.
There are many Pius Awokes in detentions in Nigerian. Some well-connected and well to do individuals have cornered our institutions of justice to pervert the cause of justice. Money has become the most basic consideration to secure the illegal detentions of Nigerians in these institutions. We have institutions that denied remedies to unlawful invasions of our rights as Nigerians, and nothing may happen.
Many innocent souls have died in unlawful detentions because they have nobody to speak for them. Most of our detentions camps are like warehouses where human beings are dumped like rotten goods and chattels.
There is no humanity in most Nigerians working in these institutions. As an association, NBA has branches across Nigeria. These branches have human rights committees. Rather than promoting the rule of law, we have turned our noble association to petty political association that fights mundane issues and divisions, and we have forgotten the core mandate of the association.
Why should Pius Awoke Esq and others still in detention be in detention without immediate remedies. It shows how wicked we have turned our institutions of justice to in Nigeria. We seem to embrace injustice as our ways of life. I am sure in the places where these institutions of justice operate, we have lawyers who are members of NBA thereat.
We experience more acts of terrible wickedness in the hands of some lawyers operating in those institutions. What have we done as professional association to tame our members who misuse their powers and positions to inflict injuries on the liberties of Nigerians and lawyers. We have done nothing to curb these wicked acts against ourselves.
Our well-being and welfare as lawyers should be the upper most priorities to our professional association. But it appears the reverse is on the increase. I weep for the professional association that devotes more time to chasing shadows than the substance of the interests and well-being of its members.
My only consolation is that Pius Awoke Esq is alive to tell his side of the stories. To that extent, I congratulate Pius for surviving the harrowing and excruciatingly unhygienic experience for about three years in detention.
The lesson for me is that we must collectively resolve to fight injustice and enthrone the rule of law in Nigeria where no man or woman is unjustly deprived of his or her dues under the law.
