NBA-SARC protests alleged manhandling of lawyer shown in viral video
The Nigerian Bar Association’s Security Agencies Relations Committee (NBA-SARC) on Thursday described as indecent and unacceptable, alleged maltreatment of a lawyer by some Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) officers.
In a statement in Lagos, the Chairman of the NBA-SARC, Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama (SAN), said that the committee had taken cognizance of an unpleasant viral video showing uniformed NCS officers manhandling a lawyer.
The Voice Media Trust (VMT NEWS) reports that the lawyer reportedly accompanied a client to an NCS office to resolve a dispute.
NBA-SARC said that it was sad that the lawyer was seen in the video, which went viral on social media on Wednesday, being manhandled by uniformed NCS officers.
He added that the video showed that the lawyer was detained on the instructions of an officer of the NCS.
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“The NBA–SARC strongly condemns such wanton display of brute force, physical harassment, and intimidation as seen exhibited against the legal practitioner in the viral video, by some officers of the NCS.
” Indeed, this ugly incident goes against every known ethical and operational standards of the NCS, which is one of the elite security agencies with pivotal security mandates.
“The NBA-SARC has written the NCS, urging it to be more courteous in dealings with legal practitioners as such instances of harassment and intimidation, as witnessed in the viral video, do not speak well of the NCS,” he said.
Gadzama urged the NCS to adopt a more decent approach.
“We hope that the NCS employs a more decent approach in its interaction with legal practitioners as it should not be seen working against the interest of justice,” he said.
