… Over remark on banditry, kidnappings
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has dragged the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), accusing him of persistent willful, mischievous and deceitful misinterpretation of sections of Nigeria’s criminal laws.
The group called on NBA to debar Lai Mohammed for allegedly bringing the prestigious profession into disrepute.
The HURIWA condemned the minister for saying that kidnapping and banditry are not Federal offences.
The rights group further reminded the minister that common sense should have told that crimes are offences fundamentally against the Nigerian Sovereign States since the parts are interdependent with the whole.
HURIWA said the minister’s statement “is more of an empty and unintelligent sophistry and is factually and legally inaccurate going by antecedents.
“We put it to Lai Mohammed that all crimes are first and foremost against the Nigerian State in as much as there are federal and state jurisdictions.
“It is pure mischief for the information minister to try to deceive gullible Nigerians by arguing that kidnapping and banditry are not federal offences.”
“We therefore, asked the leadership of NBA to sanitize their profession by withdrawing the practicing license of Lai Mohammed assuming he is up to date with paying his practicing fees.”
“We are also asking Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) to demand that President Buhari sacks Lai Mohammed.”
Addressing the media on Tuesday, the minister had said that kidnapping and banditry are not federal offences in Nigeria in response to the statement on insecurity by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).