NBA set to promote respect, rights of legal practitioners

NBA set to promote respect, rights of legal practitioners.

A Legal Practitioner, Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama, says there is need to promote respect for legal practitioners as they are the mouth piece and point of reference to the general public.

Gadzama, who is the Chairman of Nigeria Bar Association Security Agencies Relations Committee (NBA-SARC), said this at aTown Hall Meeting of the committee, held both physically and virtually on Tuesday in Lagos.

He described the committee as a “child of necessity” formed to protect the rights of Nigerian lawyers and members of the public.

According to the News the theme of the town hall meeting was “Lawyers, Security Agencies, and the Rule of Law.”

Gadzama said that the meeting was aimed at evolving new ways of promoting a healthy relationship between lawyers and security agencies.

“The importance of NBA-SARC in bridging the gap between legal practitioners and the security agencies in Nigeria, cannot be over emphasised.

“The NBA-SARC was constituted in Dec. 16, 2021, at the NBA National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abeokuta, and inaugurated on Jan. 7.

“We are less than three months in office, but with the push and cooperation of the NBA leadership, the committee has been able to hit the ground running.

“It will not be out of place to refer to the NBA-SARC as a child of necessity, born to provide succour to legal practitioners, who are allegedly been threatened or molested by some security agents.

“The objective of this meeting is to champion the NBA’s initiative of nurturing a cordial relationship between lawyers and security agencies in Nigeria,” he said.

The chairman said that the SARC had effectively intervened in over 15 cases affecting legal practitioners in the country.

He said that though the meeting focused on members of the legal profession, yet every Nigerian is entitled to dignity and respect as guaranteed by the 1999 constitution.

“We are using lawyers as a contact to extend such goodwill to the general public.

“The NBA also has a major arm, the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL), that deals on promoting public interest and development law, which I am happy to associate with,” Gadzama said

He urged security agencies to exhibit respect for individual rights and liberty at all times, especially in the discharge of their duties .