NBA Demands Justice As Yobe Police Deny Disrupting Court Proceedings

The Yobe State Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Barrister Altine Ibrahim, has expressed dismay over the Yobe Police Command’s denial of the case of disruption of a court session in Potiskum. The NBA described the Police version of the story as “misleading,” saying the actions were unexpected from a lawful organisation like the Police department. It will be recalled that Arewa PUNCH had earlier published a story alleging the Police disruption of the Yobe Court proceedings and the release of two of its personnel standing trial over robbery allegations.

This followed a press release by the Yobe branch of the NBA and the rebuttal of the allegation by the Yobe Police Command, Damaturu, which was also published by Arewa PUNCH. As a result of the allegations and counter-allegations from the two sides, our correspondent followed up with an exclusive interview with the Yobe NBA branch Chairperson, Barrister Altine Ibrahim, who reaffirmed the claim via phone call on Monday, November 11, 2024. According to her, “We are very surprised to hear the denial from the Police over a matter that was presented to the Commissioner of Police, Garba Ahmed, who agreed to conduct an investigation into the case, just for us to hear such a denial in the media.

“The commissioner has promised to look into the matter and take the necessary actions and get back to us, and for us to hear such a statement in the media is surprising,” she explained. Altine noted that the Police Public Relations Officer was directed to debunk the report following a report by the Sahara Reporters on the arrest of two Police officers in a robbery case allegations against them and the pending case of the police disruption of the court session in Potiskum town. The NBA chairman alleged that after the judgment, the colleagues of the Police officers came to the court in a private vehicle and went away with the two convicts.

She further alleged that later, a group of armed Police officers wearing their uniforms came fully armed and surrounded the court with the same intent and mission to take away the convicts. Altine alleged, “They came with the siren to take away them.”The Bar, according to the attorney-at-law, “has three demands: firstly, the Police should bring back the convict to serve their sentence  after the judgment; secondly,  the case must be investigated so that those who invaded the court would be brought to book, and thirdly the Area Commander of Police must leave that place because of the incessant complaints we’ve heard about him from so many angles.”

The NBA boss explained that the body of lawyers needed to take such actions seriously to ensure that the necessary actions were taken against the culprits.“We have confirmed witnesses who were present during the disruption of the court by the Police, and they are available to testify on the matter,” she insisted. However, she said the CP promised to investigate and take the necessary actions. As such, the body of lawyers is waiting to see the next line of actions to be taken.“We had a meeting with the Attorney General and the Chief Security Officer to the Executive Governor, Mai Mala Buni, and they agreed to also look into the matter,” she informed our correspondent.

Source: The Punch