For allegedly assaulting Ogadinma Winnie Uchechi, the girl who posted the video of a dilapidated school in the Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State, the local government chairman, Eugene Ekpelle is soon to be prosecuted by the Nigeria Bar Association.
But he will only escape the trial if he apologises publicly to the victim and also undertake appropriate restitution within the next two weeks, says the chairman of the NBA committee on public interest litigation, Ntufam Mba Ukweni, SAN.
Ukweni told TNN in a telephone interview that it was unacceptable for a local government to assault a young woman for drawing public attention to a dilapidated school building. He said the leadership of the NBA was not taking the issue lightly and would ensure justice for the girl.
He said on getting information about the alleged assault by the chairman, the NBA leadership gave specific instructions on the need for the chairman to be made to face the law.
“We feel very bad about it and immediately we received the news, it was the chairperson of the public interest litigation and development law committee of the NBA, SPIDEL, Associate Professor Uju Agomoh, who alerted me early in the morning by sending the video to me and the photographs for my committee to act.
“I had to get in touch with the chairman of Ahoda branch of the NBA to confirm whether such an incident took place in the first place. I have confirmed that the incident actually took place.
“The Ahoada branch has been given instructions to ensure that a formal latter is sent to the chairman of the council to immediately take that girl for medical treatment and then address the harm that had been done to the child by paying adequate compensation within a short period and also tender public apology within two weeks.
“If he doesn’t do that, then we will institute a legal action against the chairman and all those concerned in that assault,” the senior lawyer said, adding that the local government chairman should be ready to face the legal team of the NBA if he refused to comply within the stipulated time.
Ukweni said the NBA has been involved in such public interest cases in the past, including the suit against the police, on the tinted permit saga. He said the association took up the case in the interest of the public, to stop the police from further extorting Nigerians under the guise of tinted glasses permit enforcement.
“The police is not a revenue generating organ and very soon we are going to institute an action against them and the federal government with regards to bail money. If the government is not prepared to fund the police, they should disband them.
“The issue of not having even stationary in the police stations, the issue of not having vehicles for police operations, the issue of not providing money for investigation is not acceptable to us. There is no country that operates like that.
“If you don’t have money to fund the police to investigate your matter, then you cannot make a complaint that will be investigated no matter how grievous the complaint is. So, if the federal government is not prepared to fund the police to enable them police the country, they should disband the police.
“They cannot turn the police into a private enterprise for money making. So we are looking at that and that may be the next action we may take nationally. Let the federal government come and let Nigerians know whether they are prepared for this or they are not prepared to fund the police because we will set up a committee that will be in a every police station.
“If we hear that there is money being collected from anybody for purposes of investigating a crime or for people to be released on bail, we will ask for restitution. So, these are the type of cases we handle-for individuals and for the public as a whole.”
The lawyer said once the ultimatum expired, he and his team would relocate to Rivers State, ensure that the chairman is apprehended and brought before the court to face trial. He said the NBA would ensure that the chairman is jailed for the offence, so that other public officers could learn how not to treat harmless and innocent citizens.
