Eko Hot Blog reports that lawyers who are members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Lagos Chapter, have protested against the unlawful arrest and detention of a lawyer, Olumide Sonupe, by the police in the state.
Lawyers from about five branches of the NBA marched from its Ikeja secretariat, while displaying banners, to the Lagos Police Command headquarters on Thursday.
The protest came about a day after the state Commissioner of Police, Adegoke Fayoade had ordered the removal of the Divisional Police Officer of Moshalashi Police Station, Austin Arase, who ordered Sonupe’s detention.
The 36-year-old lawyer was reportedly hospitalised after he was said to have been detained by the police while seeking the bail of his client at the Moshalashi Police Station in the Alimosho area of the state on December 30, 2023.
It was learnt that the lawyer’s health deteriorated upon his release from the police station on January 1, 2024, after spending two nights with his client in the cell.
The situation triggered the protest by other NBA members in Lagos on Thursday.
Speaking during the protest, a human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Femi Falana, has called on the Nigeria Police to conduct proper investigations into the case of brutality against lawyers in Lagos State.
Femi Falana, SAN
He said the NBA was ready to defend the rights of lawyers, while stating that the association had filed a report and that an investigation was ongoing.
“The five branches of the Nigerian Bar Association have come to protest police brutality on the Nigeria Police. We are making a case through him about the brutalisation of lawyers and indeed other citizens,” Falana stated.
“The NBA wants a full investigation of the incident. We are pleased to know that the Commissioner of Police has said an investigation is ongoing and besides the report, the NBA is filing a report to protect the human rights of our colleagues.”
Speaking with PUNCH, the chairman of the NBA Ikeja branch, Seyi Olawumi, said the protest was to condemn the increased rate of harassment that lawyers suffer in the hands of the police.
“It is a peaceful protest against police brutality of our members who go into police stations for the service of their clients,” he added.
Sonupe, who was accompanied by family, friends, and colleagues, said the only thing that mattered to him was to see that justice was served, while calling on the police to be thorough with their investigations.
Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Adegoke Fayoade
The CP, while addressing the aggrieved lawyers, said the incident was unfortunate and promised that such issues would be avoided.
Fayoade said, “I have ordered that the DPO be removed and I have issued a departmental query to the affected DPO. This will go a long way in affecting his departmental progress. We have not in any way stopped lawyers from visiting our cell. Under my mandate, magistrates will be allowed to visit the police stations.
“The issue of what happened to the lawyer is quite unfortunate and we will not tolerate it.
“When such a situation comes up, I do not think the lawyer is meant to have an altercation with the police officer. Police officers are meant to respect lawyers and lawyers are meant to respect police officers.”
The police have been a subject of constant accusations of unlawful arrests and harassment of citizens despite promises by the force hierarchy to change the culture of impunity.
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