•IGP Egbetokun
Some lawyers in Abuja have urged the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) to prevail on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) over the alleged incessant threat to arrest one of their colleagues, Victor Giwa.
Speaking in Abuja today, Wednesday, June 26, the legal practitioners, under the aegis of Lawyers of Conscience (LoC), claimed that Giwa has come under constant harassment from men of the Nigeria Police Force over his representation of a client.
Speaking for the lawyers, rights activist, Maxwell Opara threatened to sue the IGP in his capacity as Kayode Egbetokun, if he fails to act accordingly by calling his men to order, reports The Nation.
Opara said trouble started owing to a disagreement between Giwa’s client, a property firm, Abbey Signatures Ltd, and a staff of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mrs. Asabe Waziri over a property purchase agreement in respect of two houses in the Maitama District of Abuja.
Opara accused Mrs Waziri of allegedly instigating the police to carry out unlawful acts in respect of cases pending between the firm and Mrs Giwa before courts of competent jurisdictions.
“The purchase of the multi-million naira property by Waziri was said to have attracted several court cases before the FCT High Court, during which an order was issued for her eviction due to her alleged faceoff with other property owners in the apartment as well as financial infraction in the purchase transaction.
“Upon the order of the court, Waziri was evicted from the property, but was however, said to be bitter with the eviction carried out by bailiffs of the Abuja High Court,” Opara said.
He alleged that despite challenging her eviction in court and the suit still pending, Mrs Waziri has chosen to resort to self-help by instigating police officials to achieve what she could not achieve in court.
Opara argued that men of the police have no business dabbling into a pure civil transaction of property purchase.
The lawyer added that the police as a law-abiding institution should allow the matter to be fully determined by the court instead of acting as a court of its own.
He stated that it was wrong of Mrs Waziri to use the police to harass Victor Giwa, who is counsel to the property developer, Abbey Signatures Ltd.
Opara cautioned the IGP and his officers to stop taking laws into their own hands by unlawfully and illegal support to Waziri to intimidate and harass Giwa.
