The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has said the recent comment by Major-General Bashir Magashi (retd.), Minister of Defence, over the state of insecurity in the country indicates that all Nigerians are in trouble.
The NBA said this after an emergency meeting of the Warri branch of the association held on Friday to deliberate over the killing of Nkiru Agbasu, a pregnant Warri-based lawyer.
Magashi in an interview with journalists recently had called on Nigerians not to be cowards and defend themselves against gun-wielding bandits and kidnappers.
However, Emmanuel Uti, Chairman of the Warri branch of NBA, slammed the minister, saying: “Is he (the Minister) calling on Nigerians to defend themselves with bare hands? It is a sign of failure. It is a sign that we are all in trouble.”
Uti stated that the branch is in mourning over the death of Agbasu, who was reportedly shot dead by unknown gunmen along Warri-Sapele Highway in Delta State on Wednesday.
He lamented that “security in Delta State has deteriorated to an extent that lawyers and other professionals are scared to move around freely”.
He said: “Security has failed woefully in the country. There is need to rejig security. There is urgent need for a renewed security architecture. Warri, Delta, in particular, is tensed up because of insecurity as manifested in the daily reports of killings and kidnappings all over the place. NBA Warri will pursue this case to a logical conclusion.”
Also speaking, Olumide Akpata, the NBA National President, who was represented at the meeting by the Association’s first Vice-President, John Aikpokpo-Martins, urged the Inspector-General of Police to investigate the circumstances surrounding the murder of Agbasu.
“NBA will not take the incident lightly with anybody because a threat to one is a threat to all.
“This is not a case that can be swept under the carpet. The police must unravel the perpetrators of the heinous crime with a view to punishing them accordingly,” Akpata said.
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