OWO KILLINGS: ‘TIME TO OVERHAUL NIGERIA’S SECURITY SYSTEM,’ SAYS TAIDI

The Owo Attack and Security Agencies in Nigeria

The attack on the Catholic Church Owo, Ondo State, where scores of worshippers were killed and several others wounded has again been greeted with the usual “condemnation” from various quarters – as if such a response is enough to avert future occurrences of similar or worse attacks.

The dastardly act has again exposed the ineptitude of our security agencies whose score card has certainly fallen below zero in intelligence gathering. The whole thing was made even more odious by the complete lack of response from the police, or the motley number of uniformed agencies that are sworn to defend the people, thus making it easy for the attackers to operate maximally and flee without any intervention or interception.

The inability of various security agencies to device effective intelligence gathering is responsible for the calamities that befall us in various locations and at varying shades of vileness.

Our security agencies, despite the huge allocation of scarce resources, are constantly caught sleeping on duty and this has become a running national embarrassment.

Again, we must insist that the time has come to re-examine the nation’s security architecture, to overhaul and upgrade the detecting arm of all the security forces and to recalibrate our surveillance systems to meet modern methods of investigating crime. We have been locked in an obsolete system where we spend money on men, rather than on sophisticated materials and scientific methods.
At this point, a national summit on security will not be out of place because the brains currently manning our forces appeared tired, and posses neither the enthusiasm for crime fighting nor the innovative skills required to succeed at such an enterprise.

I condole with the families of the victims as well as the Catholic community over this avoidable loss of innocent lives and pray for the repose of the souls of those whose lives have been so brutally cut short.

I hope those whose duty it is to arrest and prosecute the criminals responsible for this mayhem will, for once, do their job swiftly and effectively in order to bring closure to the families of the bereaved and the rest of our anxious nation.

Jonathan Gunu Taidi, Esq.

ISAAC OGBAH CELEBRATES JUSTICE EJEMBI EKO, NBA EFFURUN, MOURNS OGEDENGBE

Prominent Bar Leader and former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ota Branch, Mr. Isaac Omuta Ogbah has described retired Supreme Court jurist, Jusitce Ejembi Eko as an “astute jurist” with a wealth of legal jurisprudence.

Ogbah who is also the Editor-in-Chief of Erudite Judgements of Supreme Court also commended the leadership and entire members of NBA Effurun Bar on its Law Week, even as he mourned the passing of former NBA Abuja Branch Chairman, High Chief Uyeh Ogedengbe.

Below are the statements.

ISAAC OGBAH, FICMC CELEBRATES HIS LORDSHIP, HONOURABLE JUSTICE EJEMBI EKO, OF THE SUPREME COURT ON HIS MERITORIOUS RETIREMENT FROM THE NIGERIAN BENCH.

His Lordship was an astute jurist and we, as members of the Nigerian Bar have indeed been privileged to have shared from his wealth of legal jurisprudence and erudite judgments as a noble member of the Bench.

My Lord, we celebrate you be dearly and wish you the very best as you successfully exit the apex court with your indelible marks on the history of the Nigerian judiciary.

Congratulations Your Lordship.

ISAAC OMUTA OGBAH, FICMC, PAST CHAIR OF THE UTTER BAR AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF EJSC, FELICITATES WITH THE JONATHAN EKPERUSI LED NBA EFFURUN BRANCH AS THEY HOLD THEIR LAW WEEK.

Without any iota of doubt the Judiciary is a critical stakeholder in the Business of Nation Building. The Judiciary is a very vital stakeholder in the preservation of peace and guaranteeing national security which are key pillars for national development. This entails defending and protecting people’s rights and their properties, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our great Nation.

The Judiciary, no doubt, is one of the three pillars that holds this great Nation and its role cannot be over emphasized.

I believe the various sessions to be held during your Law Week will further shed more light on the roles of the Judiciary in building our Great Nation.

I therefore celebrate with the Leadership and the entire members of NBA Effurun Bar and wish them an insightful, wonderful and fruitful Bar Week.

I celebrate you all now and always. Shalom shalom

ISAAC OMUTA OGBAH, FICMC SENDS CONDOLENCES TO NBA ABUJA AND NBA BRANCHES IN DELTA STATE ON THE DEATH OF HIGH CHIEF UYEH OGEDENGBE, PAST CHAIR NBA ABUJA BRANCH

This is to express my sincere and heartfelt condolences to the members of the NBA Abuja Branch; the entire Branches of NBA in Delta State o the passing unto glory of the past Branch Chairman of NBA Abuja Branch, *High Chief Uyeh Ogedengbe (The GOC) who passed on to glory on Wednesday, 7th day of May, 2022 after a brief Illness.

It is my prayers that God grant his entire family members and the entire legal community the fortitude to bear this great loss even as we pray for journey mercies to everyone that would travel to and fro Emevor, the home town of our departed GOC on 10th day of June, 2022, the date fixed for his burial.

Adieu, GOC.

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TAIDI CONDOLES NBA OVER TRAIN ATTACK, ASKS FG TO ACT

The immediate past Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) General Secretary, Mr. Jonathan Taidi has condoled the NBA leadership on the death of some lawyers in the attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train.

Extending his condolence message to the Chairman and members of NBA Kaduna Branch in particular over the loss of three of its members, Taidi said: “My deepest sympathy is with all the families who lost their loved ones on board the train as I join my voice to those who demand that the government immediately accounts for those whose whereabouts are still unknown.”

He urged the Federal Government to act fast to arrest the spate of attacks across the country, adding: “I hereby call on the Federal Government to stop the foot dragging, the feckless reassurances, and the crocodile tears, and actually make drastic changes to the current methodology of crime fighting. It is obvious that whatever it has done till now has not worked and had instead emboldened the bandits to perpetuate even worse atrocities.”

Below is the full text of the statement made available to CITY LAWYER.

TIME TO OVERHAUL NIGERIA’S SECURITY ARCHITECTURE

INCESSANT INSECURITY: THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MUST ACT NOW TO END THESE SENSELESS KILLINGS

The recent twin-attack on the popular Abuja – Kaduna rail line which killed a score of passengers, and left many more wounded or unaccounted for is proof that the Federal Government of Nigeria is sleeping on duty. The second attack actually came within 24 hours of the first and both came only a year after a similar attack was launched on the railway last year shortly after the route became popular as a result of the incessant kidnappings and killings along the Abuja- Kaduna road which made the rail a safer alternative.

Now the bandits have taken away that alternative and we are forced to live like people under permanent siege.

It is impossible to excuse the kind of incompetence that is at work here. At every election we see a massive deployment of security personnel, in their tens of thousands, outside their places of primary assignment, drafted to police the polls, so the question is: why are we not seeing the same kind of commitment now when there is a clear and present danger to the lives of our people traveling this route?

It seems that as far as the government is concerned, winning elections takes precedence over the sacred duty of protecting the lives and property of the people, which is universally acknowledged as the first function of government.

For how long shall we continue to mourn and grieve the loss of our loved ones, colleagues and compatriots while also living in fear for our lives because we know that no one is safe anymore in this country?

I hereby call on the Federal Government to stop the foot dragging, the feckless reassurances, and the crocodile tears, and actually make drastic changes to the current methodology of crime fighting. It is obvious that whatever it has done till now has not worked and had instead emboldened the bandits to perpetuate even worse atrocities.

May I use this medium to commiserate with the president and members of the Nigerian Bar Association in general and the Chairman and Members of NBA Kaduna Branch in particular over the loss of three of its members. My deepest sympathy is with all the families who lost their loved ones on board the train as I join my voice to those who demand that the government immediately accounts for those whose whereabouts are still unknown.

This Government Must Act Now!

Jonathan Gunu Taidi, Esq.
NBA General Secretary (2018 -2020)

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