NBA wants CP, other officers punished for ‘desecrating judiciary

Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Owerri branch, on Monday staged a peaceful protest at the premises of Owerri High Court, over the alleged assault on the Chief Magistrate of Umuneke Ngor, Ngor Okpala Local Government of Imo State, Ngozi Onyenemezu, and two others last Thursday.

The protest kicked off the lawyers’ three-day boycott of court activities (Monday to Wednesday) to press home their demands.

Led by chairman of the branch, Damian Nosike, the lawyers asked the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Idris Ibrahim, to redeploy the Commissioner of Police in the state, Dasuki Galadanchi, while the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Umuneke Ngor and other policemen involved in the alleged invasion of the court be dismissed and prosecuted.

They accused the policemen of beating their members and subsequently detaining them in their cell before arraigning them last Friday at Magistrate Court 1, Owerri, Imo State capital, for allegedly “aiding the escape” of robbery suspects who had been discharged for defective charge brought before it.

Nosike particularly accused the police of desecrating the court and verbally calling the magistrate a “prostitute”.

His words: “We are protesting against police brutality on two of our members on July 19 at Umuneke Ngor magistrate’s court and desecration of the judiciary by assaulting a female magistrate.

“They equally called her a prostitute. The female magistrate had run into her chamber, and it took the intervention of the area commander to save the magistrate from the hands of the DPO and his men.

“We went to the police command headquarters to see the CP, but we waited for three hours without being allowed to see him. We left by 10pm.

“We are calling on the IGP to immediately redeploy the CP in Imo and dismiss the DPO and his men.

“We will continue to protest until our request is granted. We will boycott court sittings in Imo for three days.

We will officially petition the IGP, Police Service Commission (PSC), human rights organisations and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).”

Reacting, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Imo, Andrew Enwerem, advised the lawyers to stop inciting the public, urging them to face the matter in court.