The Mid-West Bar Forum has condemned in its entirety, the arrest, detention, and assault of the Chairman of NBA Sapele branch, Ademi- Akpeto, Esq., by men of the Nigeria Police on the behest of a prominent chief who has a matter against same.

This was made known in a statement signed by the Chairman of the Forum, Chike Onyemenam, SAN, and made available to TheNigerialawyer (TNL).

In the statement sighted by TNL, it was revealed what actually transpired in court that led to the illegal act meted out on the bar leader.

According to the statement, Ademi-Akpeto, Esq., the Applicant, who is a prominent Legal Practitioner and Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Sapele Branch, filed a suit before the Effurun High Court against the Nigerian Police Command and others, by way of an Application for the enforcement of his Fundamental Rights, so as to get the Court to protect him from unlawful arrest and incarceration by the Police upon a trumped-up charge of Armed Robbery, Promoting Native Warfare, Pipeline Vandalization, etc., said to have been instigated by a prominent Chief whom the Applicant has a pending case against for Defamation.

That, the judge granted an order directing the Police to maintain the Status Quo, that is, to stay action by not arresting the Applicant, so as to enable the Applicant’s complaint against the Police to be examined by the Court; as a Defendant who had been sued to Court, the Police had only one option, which is, to file their defence to show that there was a prima facie case of Armed Robbery etc., made out against the Applicant, that is, that there is a probable cause to justify his arrest, but if the Court is not satisfied that a case has been made out, then the case would be dismissed and Judgment will be entered for the Applicant by way of enforcement of his Fundamental Rights; and that when the matter came up, an order was made directing him to go and report himself to the police and then return to court. Not knowing what may transpire when he gives himself in, he applied for a stay of execution of the said order.

“When the case came up before the Presiding Judge, the Court in exercise of his unfettered discretion, made an order directing the Applicant to go and report himself to the Police and return to Court.

“The Applicant believing that once he so reports himself, he would be clamped into detention, arraigned for the false Armed robbery charge and remanded in prison custody indefinitely, decided to exercise his Constitutional right of Appeal against the said order, to the Court of Appeal, Benin City, and also applied for a stay of execution of the said order directing him to report himself to the Police.

“When the matter came up for hearing before the Effurun High Court, the Court upon being informed that the Applicant had not complied with his order, but instead, had appealed against same, exercised his discretion by vacating the earlier order for Stay,” the statement reads.

Speaking further, he said that unknown to the Applicant, his opponent had already procured a bus full of Police officers waiting outside with his thugs and once Ademi-Akpeto, Esq. stepped out from Court, the thugs dragged him and started slapping and beating him within the Court premises and inflicted him with injuries on his head, after which they dragged him into the Bus and drove him to Benin where he was clamped into detention at the Zonal Police headquarters.

The forum, however, stated that a couple of Learned Senior Advocates practicing in Benin-City and the Chairman of the NBA Benin branch have been duly notified and the Benin branch Chairman, has already mobilised a team of Lawyers led by the eminent Silk, Ogbodu, SAN, to represent Ademi-Akpeto, Esq, who has now been rushed to the Criminal Court in Benin on a charge of Armed robbery, promoting Native Warfare, etc, thus effectively putting an end to his pending fundamental rights action before the Effurun High Court challenging and seeking to stop the action of the police.

The forum thus reassures all Members of the Forum to remain calm as the Forum promises to get to the root of the matter.