The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has sworn in its 33rd President, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya.
Badejo-Okusanya was reportedly sworn in on Friday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
She assumed the presidency after taking the oath of office administered by her predecessor, Afam Osigwe, SAN.
The former NBA President presented a handover note to Badejo-Okusanya in his farewell speech.
“This is your handover note,” Osigwe told his successor. Later, you will be given a more comprehensive one. I now out herewith.”
The oath taking ceremony was graced by the presence of senior members of the Bar and Bench, among other dignitaries.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police has dismissed claims by social media personality, Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), that its officers manning checkpoints along major highways relay information to kidnappers and bandits regarding the identity and movement of travelers, thereby facilitating abductions for ransom.
The Police said VDM’s claims at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference in Port Harcourt are false and unsubstantiated.
In a statement made available to Naija News by the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Ani Iniedu, on Thursday, the Police said its officers who put their lives on the line to prevent crime deserve better than a blanket accusation.
It described VDM’s allegations as unfair and demoralizing, especially as they were made without corresponding evidence.
Police leadership guarantyd that officers who failed in their duty would face the full extent of internal disciplinary action and the law, but said that accusing the entire institution of guilt without proof, as VDM did, is unacceptable.
The attention of the Nigeria Police Force has been drawn to the comment made by Mr. Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as “VeryDarkMan(VDM),” at the recent Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Conference in Port Harcourt, where he alleged that police officers manning the checkpoints along major highways pass information to kidnappers and bandits on the identity and movement of travelers to facilitate abduction for ransom.
“The Nigeria Police Force treats allegations relating to the conduct of its personnel as serious issues. We want to be clear:
1. The Character of the Charge
“The Nigeria Police Force hereby unequivocally refutes these unsubstantiated and unjustly damaging allegations against an institution burdened with the sacred responsibility of protecting millions of Nigerians. Allegations of this gravity require a corresponding standard of evidence and that standard has not yet been met.
“For the avoidance of doubt, police personnel deployed to checkpoints and other places across the country are there to prevent crime, detect criminal activity and protect citizens, not to facilitate kidnapping. Indeed, the very criminal elements allegedly being targeted by such information are often the ones that these same police officers deal with on a daily basis. Police personnel have been ambushed, attacked and killed, while police stations, formations and operational assets have also been targeted by terrorists, kidnappers and other violent criminals.
2. Our Officers Deserve More than Broadbrush Accusations
“The Nigeria Police Force is made up of hundreds of thousands of officers who turn up for duty each day under difficult, underfunded and often dangerous conditions, many of them at checkpoints vulnerable to the very criminal elements they are trying to keep off our roads. Broad public accusations that the entire Force is complicit in the crimes it is sworn to prevent are deeply demoralizing to these officers, and unfair to the vast majority who serve with integrity. Those found to have failed their duty will face the full force of internal discipline and the law. “But an entire institution should not be condemned on the strength of a public statement made without evidence,” the statement said in part.
The Police immediately charged VDM to give evidence to justify his claims. It gave an assurance that such evidence would be given priority and investigated thoroughly.
