NBA President Olumide Akpata Speaks On Ongoing Nationwide #ENDSARS Protests, Demands Audit of SARS Detention Centres
The President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Olumide Akpata, has spoken on the ongoing nationwide #EndSARS protests.
Mr. Akpata spoke during a press briefing held on Tuesday, October 13, 2020. The NBA President’s full speech reads:
STATEMENT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION, OLUMIDE
AKPATA AT THE PRESS BRIEFING HELD ON THE 13TH OCTOBER 2020 ON THE
ONGOING NATIONWIDE #ENDSARS PROTEST
Ladies and gentlemen of the press,
• Our Nation has in the last couple of days witnessed a mass action by Nigerian citizens, mostly the youth, against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigerian Police Force (SARS).
• 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.
• In response to the protests, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu had on Sunday, 5th October 2020 placed a ban on the operations of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad and other tactical squad of the Police force with “immediate effect. He thereafter announced the disbandment of the controversial police unit across the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, while promising the constitution of an Investigation Team which shall include Civil Society and Human Rights Organizations that will work in concert with the Nigerian Police in investigating cases of human rights violations by the Force, amongst other proposed reforms.
• While these are admittedly welcome reforms, I would like to place it on record that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), in line with its core mandate of promoting the Rule of Law in Nigeria and deepening the democratic space in Nigeria, has been actively involved in, and monitoring, the ongoing #EndSARS protests across the country.
• The protests have again brought to fore perennial issues affecting the Nigerian Police, our security agencies, their interface with the citizenry and the fundamental issues affecting our security system that can no longer be put off.
Read full speech here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14YERy1-3mXo-UXoe2lDJuc_DGZ5-Vewq/view?usp=drivesdk
