Please find below  a reproduced copy of an Open Letter to Nigerian Bar Association
By Oguchi Nkwocha, MD,
Moderator, Biafra Actualization Forum

(Tuesday, November 29, 2005)
Comments To Dr. Oguchi Nkwocha



"In just one week’s period, the Legal and Justice system in Nigeria has been laid wide open for the world to see."



Oguchi Nkwocha, MD
Moderator, Biafra Actualization Forum
November 15, 2005




Nigerian Bar Association
Plot 1261 Adeola Hopewell Street
Victoria Island, Lagos
Lagos State, Nigeria


Sirs:

I write on behalf of the Biafra Actualization Forum to point out certain facts which have a bearing on the practice of law in Nigeria, how the Nigerian Bar Association may be perceived outside of Nigeria, and how the Nigerian Justice system itself is viewed. These facts are drawn from two recent events as reported in local Nigerian Newspaper(s). Do, pardon my method of submission and communication for I am ignorant of any special formats for this process.

The first event has to do with a recent statement credited to the Delta State Commissioner of Police whereby he announced to the public and to the Press that henceforth, MASSOB (Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra) members found in his State will be treated as “armed robbers.” Clearly, even he understood and understands that MASSOB members are not armed and are not robbers; as such, the Commissioner of Police has already signaled and telegraphed the intent of the police under his command to use false and trumped up charges against innocent parties. Since the practice of the Nigeria police is to summarily execute armed robbers without arrest or trial, the implications are that MASSOB members in Delta State will be routinely shot and killed by the Nigeria Police on sight, without accountability, and on false pretense by the Nigeria Police.

We believe that the Attorney-General of Nigeria should have investigated this statement and that such a high ranking Nigeria Police official should be disciplined for this statement and forced to relinquish his post and duties, and probed for previous such actions. We believe that since even the Attorney-General of Nigeria has not reacted to this matter, the Nigeria Bar Association ought to go on record to set things right.

The second event involves the same Delta State Commissioner of Police, and is contained in the same report. The Commissioner was parading a prisoner, one Igwe Clement of Akwuru quarters, Mc-Dermot Road, Warri, a member of MASSOB, who was arrested for possession of Biafra money, by the Commissioner’s own admission, in October (presumed October 2005), in Warri. From the Commissioner’s account, this prisoner was never charged to court, never convicted, but has remained a prisoner of the Nigeria Police since October, being dragged about and paraded before the public and before the Press by the police. There exists International law against such parading, humiliation and dehumanization of prisoners.

We believe that this is a gratuitous display and humiliation of a human being, by the same Delta State Commissioner of Police, and by itself, is a contravention of International laws. The fact that for at least several weeks, this prisoner of the police has not been charged to court is another contravention of even the laws of Nigeria. If the Attorney-General of Nigeria is not responding to these acts of the police which clearly are contrary to the law, it is the professional and moral duty of the Nigeria Bar Association, we believe, to take the Nigerian legal system to task and perhaps, dissociate itself from such practices. The Delta State Commissioner of Police should also be recommended to face trial at the International Court of Justice for this brazen and unlawful act.

The next several events are taken from the recent abduction and imprisonment of Ralph Uwazurike, the leader of MASSOB, and six other members of MASSOB, and their legal treatment while in the custody of the abductors, the Nigeria State Security Services (SSS). The facts are bulleted below:


. Ralph Uwazurike was imprisoned for 13 days by the Nigerian SSS in the SSS’ cells before he was arraigned in court for charges. We do not know how long it was for the other six, but they were similarly imprisoned.
None of the seven were allowed to see their lawyer (nor a doctor, nor family members or friends for that matter) during that time

. The seven were arraigned in a court of law without a defense counselor, because the SSS had specifically refused them even their own legal counsel provided by MASSOB.

. The seven reported to the judge that they were “maltreated, detained underground and chained” in SSS cells, even though they are not known to be dangerous. Nothing was done by the judge about this.

. Based on this inhumane treatment, the seven requested that the judge order— not their release, not bail, but—a transfer to prison cells; but the judge “ignored” their request.
. It was the Attorney-General of Nigeria himself who personally formally entered the charges against these seven persons in that court, even with the full knowledge of the above facts regarding the treatment of the prisoners.

. All this, in the face of an active injunction by an Owerri High Court against the arrest and harassment of the MASSOB leader and members of MASSOB.

We have given you the facts from the second event, facts which are easily corroborated by reports in local Nigerian Newspapers and we have enclosed electronic copies. We believe that the Attorney-General of Nigeria, who is first and foremost, a lawyer, and who is (we presume) a member of the Nigeria Bar Association, has not acted professionally by his willing and knowing participation in a process such as the above, a process that contravenes basic legal codes and jurisprudence. We believe that it is up to the Nigeria Bar Association to speak for legal justice in this event.

In just one week’s period, the Legal and Justice system in Nigeria has been laid wide open for the world to see. What we see is bad and ugly, a huge travesty. If no one else and no group else in Nigeria speaks up, at least, the Nigeria Bar Association should, because, ultimately, a collective blemish resulting from this will also tarnish the image of the Association. Yet, this is not the worst thing that could happen: a worse effect is the unnecessary and brazen victimization of human beings whose only offence now is to be found in Nigeria.

We strongly urge you to take a professional stand and action on this matter, for the sake of the victimized persons caught in the legal web, trap and nightmare that is the Nigerian Justice System.

Sincerely:

Oguchi Nkwocha, MD
Moderator, Biafra Actualization Forum

Copy:

Biafra Actualization Forum (BAF).

//enclosures

A minimum definition of a nation state is a territory under the control of a recognized government. I call on the Biafra actualizers to kindly show on a map what they mean by the territory of the Biafra II they are hoping to establish.

Edruezzi:

A minimum definition of a nation state is a territory under the control of a recognized government. I call on the Biafra actualizers to kindly show on a map what they mean by the territory of the Biafra II they are hoping to establish.

Quote for the blooming truth.

conscience:

Please find below  a reproduced copy of an Open Letter to Nigerian Bar Association
By Oguchi Nkwocha, MD,
Moderator, Biafra Actualization Forum

(Tuesday, November 29, 2005)
Comments To Dr. Oguchi Nkwocha



"In just one week’s period, the Legal and Justice system in Nigeria has been laid wide open for the world to see."



Oguchi Nkwocha, MD
Moderator, Biafra Actualization Forum
November 15, 2005

This letter was written Nov. 15 2005. What purpose is it serving in Jan, 2010? Reminder? Follow up? or ?