A Practicing Young Lawyer of the Port Harcourt Branch of the
Nigerian Bar Association, Ifeanyi Nwankwor, Esq., has narrated his
ordeal in the hands of officers of the NDLEA.
Narrating his story, he stated that he was arrested by men of
the NDLEA, when he intervened during the arrest of a lady whom he
visited with a friend of his. According to his account, he had only
gone with a friend to inspect a shop when the whole incidence
started.
“I left my office to meet a friend of mine at artillery
junction, who I had earlier called to help me source for my phone
charger, as my phone selects charger and won’t charge if it is not
compatible with the charger. On my arrival, I met with her, we
tried our best to get a charger that could charge my phone, but to
no avail. She suggested that we go to her office and try using her
own charger to see if it can charge my phone. When we got to her
office, she received a call from an agent who has been helping her
to find a shop for her new make up business. On getting the call,
she asked me to accompany her to see the shop since the place is
nearby and moreover, my phone is not up yet and we need to allow it
for some minutes to see if it would come up. I joined her to see
the shop. The agent showed us the shop, though it has an occupant
in it, the lady allowed us to see the shop.
“After the inspection of the shop, she liked the shop; we came
outside with the agent and she asked the agent the price the shop
was going for; the agent then said 50,000. She went back to the
shop to confirm the price with the occupant of the shop in which I
also followed her (the lady in question is heavily pregnant). It
was at that point that a young man came in with some men of the
NDLEA, about three of them. They asked for the manager of the shop.
The lady that my friend was discussing with indicated that she is
the one. At that point, they told her that she is under arrest and
should follow them to their office,” he narrated.
Speaking further, he said that he immediately intervened and
asked what the problem was, and was told that the man who brought
the officers bought a DVD player from the lady which wasn’t good.
He, after hearing the story, advised the security operatives that
they do not have the jurisdiction to arrest the lady being a civil
action; after a while, men of the NDLEA arrived and assaulted
him.
“I immediately intervened and asked what the problem was, the
young man that came with them said he bought a fairly used DVD
player from the shop for N15, 000. On getting home, it was not
functioning properly, so he returned same and asked for the refund
of his money, but that the lady has not refunded it. The lady said
that she has referred the man to his boss, as she has no power to
refund the money. The young man also said he had met with the
lady’s boss who told him to come back in the next two days for his
refund. At that point, the NDLEA men were already agitated that I
am intervening with the arrest. They asked who I was; I told them
that I am a lawyer and showed them my ID card; I also told them
that this is a simple civil issue and that they have no
jurisdiction or right to make any arrest on this issue, as the lady
was not caught with any drugs or other related substances. They got
more agitated. I told them that the best we can do is to call the
lady’s boss so that he can come and we see the best way to sort out
the issue.
“One of the officers gave me 10 minutes to get the lady’s boss.
I asked the lady to call his boss, which she did. In less than five
minutes, the lady’s boss was there with us. As we were discussing
on how to resolve the issue, the next thing I heard was the sound
of siren and it was more men of the NDLEA. One of the officers who
was on ground with us when the discussion was going on pointed at
me as the lawyer delaying them, immediately, these men bounced on
me, beating me, dragging me, spraying tear gas on me, pushed me
into their vehicle and handcuffed me to their vehicle.”
He added that the assault did not end at the station as he was
also beaten even at the station. According to him, they accused him
of obstructing their duty and calling the community on them, adding
that he was asked to give statement which he refused giving until
the arrival of his lawyer.
”They took me to their office, on arrival at their office; it
was another episode of beating and spraying of tear gas. They asked
me to write a statement and accused me of obstructing their duty
and calling the community on them. Even at the place I was to make
the statement, they were still slapping and beating me. I told them
that I would like to make a call, which they obliged me, so I
called a friend who now called my boss and other of my colleagues
in the office. I told them that I cannot make a statement till I
see my lawyer.
”Due to the traffic at Aba Road yesterday, my boss and
colleagues in my office could not come early. However, Rita Chinda,
Esq later came; I made my statement and was released to her on bail
later in the evening. Before I was released, the legal adviser to
the Young Lawyers Forum, a committee member of the NBA committee on
Human Rights, my boss and others colleagues were on ground. I was
asked to report back to the NDLEA office on Tuesday, 5th March,
2019.”
The event was said to have partly happened at NDLEA office, Aba
Road, near 2nd Artillery bus stop, Port Harcourt, Rivers state, on
the 2nd of March, 2019. This account should be the first account of
an assault meted on a legal practitioner by security operatives
this year, as recorded by TNL.