By Chioma Obinagwam
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has condemned the arrests of #OccupyLekkiTollGate protesters by the police.
Confiance News gathered from the President of NBA, Olumide Akpata who took to Twitter to express his displeasure over the actions of the police.
“The images & footages of the unlawful actions of the Nigerian Police at the Lekki Tollgate Lagos are truly shocking. The @NigBarAssoc condemns the brazen disrespect for the fundamental rights of unarmed citizens who are merely exercising their rights to peaceful protests,” he tweeted.
“We are currently working together with members of our Association to ensure the release of those detained. At the moment, we understand that the detainees are spread across Panti, Adeniji and Ikeja Police Stations and that they are currently being denied access to their Lawyers,” he continued.
The images & footages of the unlawful actions of the Nigerian Police at the Lekki Tollgate Lagos are truly shocking. The @NigBarAssoc condemns the brazen disrespect for the fundamental rights of unarmed citizens who are merely exercising their rights to peaceful protests.
— Olumide Akpata (@OlumideAkpata) February 13, 2021
He further noted that the NBA will provide voluntary legal representation for all persons arrested in connection with the demonstrations.
Earlier on Saturday, more than 30 protesters were arrested at Lekki tollgate.
The youths were demonstrating against the decision of the Lagos judicial panel, which granted approval to the Lekki Concession Company (LCC) to continue operations at the tollgate.
Operations at the tollgate have been suspended since October 2020, following a shooting incident involving #EndSARS protesters.
