* Demands release of detained EndSARS activists
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has demanded the unconditional release of all #EndSARS peaceful protesters across the country, urging all the agitators to remain non-violent and law-abiding in expressing their grievances.
The NBA noted the right to protest is constitutionally guaranteed and demanded that governments should protect the rights of all citizens participating in the peaceful protests.
It urged them to direct security agencies to cease assaulting, attacking, abusing, or otherwise harassing or using force against citizens who seek to have their voices heard through peaceful protests.
The group cautioned under no circumstances should the use of live arms and ammunition against peaceful and lawful protesters be tolerated and further demanded that those found culpable must be apprehended and prosecuted.
NBA’s President, Olumide Akpata, made the association’s position known in Abuja on Tuesday, during which he argued that the ongoing citizens ’revolt was a reaction years of systemic failure.
He said: “As you all may know, the protests are precipitated by years of brutality and professional misconduct by operatives of this particular police unit who have for too long derailed from the core mandates of their establishment, and have become threats to the same citizens that they were meant to protect in line with the general mandate of the Police under the Nigerian Constitution.
“Our Nation is at a crossroads, and the ongoing nationwide protest is in many respects emblematic of the larger problems that bedevil us as a nation. But if there is one thing we must do, it is to make the best of this crisis.
“The NBA believes that the only way this can be done is to enlist in a thorough and holistic reform of not just the Nigerian Police, but the entire security architecture in the country. I believe that with the daunting security challenges across different parts of the country, this should not just be our collective responsibility, but a national obligation,” Akpata said.