A mild
drama played out Friday between men of the Department of the State Security
Service DSS and lawyers which has since been described as a national
embarrassment and shameful bickering over an alleged show of power between
the men of the bar and DSS operatives in Awka.
On
investigation, it was gathered that a yet to be identify DSS official allegedly
mal-handled a 57-year-old lawyer at the Awka South Magistrate Court entrance,
where the later was said to use the untarred road that lead to the court,
without negotiating to know if an
oncoming saloon car was driving out of the court premises.
It was
learnt that the DSS officer was sighted to disembark from the 406 saloon car
number, EBONYI AJ-716-AKL allegedly forced the lawyer to make way for him to
exit before he move beyond his position, but the lawyer was reported not to heed
to the call.
The DSS
of
Decorum was
however thrown into the waste bin when an armed DSS officer descended on the
57-year-old lawyer and panebited him till he was later rescued by the alarm of
a fellow lawyer, before it later ended in a free-for-all at the instance of an
ongoing court session.
Trouble started when the
SSS operative, who wore a sky-blue suit, parked his vehicle in front of the
court, at an untarred road where could only accommodate one vehicle at a time
before other lawyers in the courtroom came out to join their colleague that had
already been battered by the DSS orderly with allegation of using the back of a
gun and machete.
Speaking in defence of
the lawyers, the representative of Awka South Nigeria Bar Association NBA
chairman, Barrister G.C Anekwe condemned the attack on lawyer by the security
officers, described the act as uncivil, and assured that his men will rest in
any form.
He said, ‘’One man said
he works with the SSS, he saw a lawyer blowing horn, maybe the lawyer is not
fast to hear him he then came out of his car and ordered his aide to beat up a
lawyer with machete, he messed up the lawyer for no reason’.
‘It has not happened
before here, we were surprised this morning, he said he is the Director of SSS,
its very unfortunate’’ Anekwe lamented.
Another
witness Barrister Stanley Agwu, aledged that the information they gathered was
that the DSS officer had been terrorizing people around that vicinity and
narrated how he instructed his orderly to batter the old lawyer;
‘’I am a
witness, when the man who parked the car came and was about removing his car,
the person who identified himself as a director of SSS whom I know is
impersonating came out, ask the man why did he park here, I asked the man to
just take is easy, he said I should get away, am a stupid person, he said all
lawyers are idiot and this is what they do now and then and that we are
charge-and-bail lawyers.
‘When the
man wanted to go and remove his car, he now asked the man why did he pack here,
the man said there are cars everywhere, would I carry my car on the head I
managed to park here, the man almost opening his car to remove his car, the man
ordered his boy to descend on him, they used both what the man was having and
machete the boy was carrying, they descend on the man, they battered the man an
old lawyer of 37-years at the bar.
I went
inside the court alerted lawyers to come out to enable us treat this injustice
once an for all’’ Agwu said.
They
however called on relevant authorities to wade into the matter to forestall
further occurrence,
fforts to
speak with the Director DSS Anambra state was proved abortive, also the Public relation officer of the police phone
number was not reachable.