Barr. Bayo Akinlade, Chairman, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Ikorodu branch
Kunle ADELABU, the Publisher/Reporter-in-Chief of THE IMPACT Newspaper engaged Barrister Bayo Akinlade, Chairman, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Ikorodu branch in a brief interview after a parley between the family of the deceased, Deputy Commissioner of Police,
IMPACT: For the record, can you please introduce yourself?
NBA Chairman: My name is Bayo Akinlade, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Chairman, Ikorodu branch.
IMPACT: You are in this matter to get justice for the victim, family and the society at large, what is your assessment so far from today’s meeting?
NBA Chairman: There are two issues to it. The first one is the relationship between the family, government and the police and the other aspect is the course that the law will take which is also in two segments. The first course is the criminal trial while the second is compensation for the victim. At the NBA, we have setup a pro bono committee of three teams. The first thing is police relation. We want to know what police is doing towards the investigation and the prosecution of the case. When the case leaves the police station and the man involved is actually arraigned in court for the shooting, we will now approach the court as watching brief in which case, we will provide the police prosecutor with legal support to effectively prosecute the case. Then, we have the third team that will look into the compensation and work with the police intervention group that will sit down and negotiate suitable compensation. If compensation didn’t work out at that stage, then, we will be filing an action in court for civil claim of negligence.
IMPACT: Sir, aside getting justice for the victim, family and the society, how is the NBA planning to use the force of law to stem the rampant cases of accidental discharge and stray bullet which are killing innocent people?
NBA Chairman: In that regard, we have Hon. Sanai Agunbiade who is a representative, but unfortunately, the law that guides the police is a federal law. Perhaps, what we ought to do is to talk to our representatives in the Senate and House of Representatives to put in place some kind of regulatory laws for the police; the usage of it to training the offices that actually possesses these firearms and to make an example of those that make use of the firearm in wrong way. We have a long way to go and the law doesn’t fix everything. The people should be more observant about the situation like this. The only reason that this is coming out is because people are tired of what is going on and they are not willing to let go. If the people who took the initial step have not done that, we won’t be here today. It all started with good Samaritans that took the remains of that girl to the police station and make so much noise about it which has now brought the interest of the community and the state to this matter and by extension, the federal government because police is a federal institution.
IMPACT: Somebody suggested that police should henceforth conduct random drug and alcoholic test on police officers as a way of stemming the rampant issue of accidental discharge and stray bullets by the police. As a lawyer, what is your reaction to this ?
NBA Chairman: That is a normal thing and if that is not happening, then, there is problem within the police administration and there is little or nothing those outside the police can do about it. It is the duty of the police leadership to ensure professionalism of its personnel . The Police Community Relations Committee should possibly look into this matter and ensure that police officers are fit to perform their duties.
IMPACT: Thank you sir.
NBA Chairman: Thank you.
