Lawyers have frowned at the bombing of two courts in Rivers State on Monday.
Their umbrella body, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) yesterday challenged the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to conduct a thorough and prompt investigation into the incidents with a view to fishing out the perpetrators of the dastardly acts and bring them to book.
The lawyers expressed shock at the bombing of the High Court in Ahoada and the suspected arson at another High Court at Okehi.
In a statement yesterday in Abuja by its National President, Mr. Okey Wali, (SAN), NBA said the news of the brazen and dastardly act of bomb explosion in court premises amounted to desecrating the temple of justice.
Wali called for an immediate probe of the incident and asked that the report be made public within 30 days.
The statement said: “The Nigerian Bar Association condemns these acts of brigandage and views them not only as sacrilegious, but also as a desecration of the temple of justice.
“The Nigerian Bar Association reiterates that, on no account will it ever idly stand by and watch these acts of violence and impunity to our courts, which are tantamount to an affront to the rule of law and threat to our democracy.
“This underscores the need for government to take the security of lives and property more seriously. The lackadaisical attitude accorded to the security of our courts nationwide is now brought to the fore.
“The need to secure the premises of the hallowed courts of justice across the nation should be taken more seriously”.
Wali particularly called on the NSA and the IGP to deploy all security apparatuses at their disposal in apprehending those behind the attack and bring them to justice.
“The NBA will not and cannot be satisfied with the usual mantra of, ‘the police investigation is continuing’.
“We demand an immediate and thorough investigation and expect a report, even if interim, within thirty days of the date of the incidents. Attacks on our courts will not be swept under the carpet.
“We are shocked. It is a total desecration of the temple of justice; we condemn it in its entirety and we are calling on the President and NSA and IGP to investigate it. We expect that the report of the investigation will be available within 30 days; it should not be the usual police report that the report is being awaited”.
The umbrella body for lawyers suspected that politics may have been the underlying cause of the violence.
It said: “We have always called on politicians to play by the rules. Whatever grievances anybody has, he should go to court”.
