NBA SEEKS SECONDMENT OF MINISTRY OF JUSTICE LAWYERS TO AMOTEKUN
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By: Fasasi Hammad
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Akure Branch, has urged the Ondo State Government to deploy more legal practitioners from the Ministry of Justice to the state’s Security Network Agency, popularly known as the Amotekun Corps.
The association said the move would strengthen the legal review of charges and court processes filed by the corps, while ensuring compliance with legal requirements and protecting the rights of suspects.
The NBA made the recommendation in a communiqué issued after its monthly meeting held at the Aare Afe Babalola Bar Centre in Akure.
The communiqué, signed by the branch chairman, Mr Oju Kekemeke, and its secretary, Oluwanike Omotayo, was made available on Tuesday.
The association stated that it had resolved to advocate the secondment of additional lawyers from the Ondo State Ministry of Justice to the Amotekun Corps.
“The proposed deployment is intended to strengthen the legal scrutiny of proposed charges and other court processes before cases are brought before the courts, with a view to promoting compliance with applicable legal requirements and safeguarding the rights of all persons concerned,” the communiqué read.
The Amotekun Corps was established in January 2020 by the six South-West states of Ondo, Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Osun and Oyo as a regional security outfit to complement conventional security agencies in tackling kidnapping, banditry and other crimes.
The NBA also expressed concerns over the electronic filing system operated by the state judiciary, describing it as a process that still requires lawyers to submit physical copies of court documents after uploading them and making payments online.
It called for the introduction of a fully electronic filing system, recommending that court registries should print physical copies from uploaded documents whenever necessary.
“Where physical copies are required for the court’s records or for service, such copies should be generated by the registry from the uploaded documents,” the communiqué stated.
The association further recommended that urgent ex parte applications be exempted from mandatory electronic filing.
It added that it would seek a meeting with the Chief Judge of the state, senior members of the Bar and former branch chairmen to discuss the concerns surrounding the filing system.
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