Stop Harassing Akpobolokemi's Lawyers, Lawyers Warn EFCC

Stop Harassing Akpobolokemi's Lawyers, Lawyers Warn EFCC

A group of legal practitioners under the auspices of Concerned Lawyers (CL) has raised the alarm over what they described as constant harassment and intimation of Joseph Nwobike (SAN), counsel to former Director General of National Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Patrick Akpobolokemi, noting that the agency should be called to order before it gets out of hand.

The group also hinted that the trend, if not stopped, would gravely undermine the position of the judiciary as the last hope of the common man.

The lawyers further urged the commission to embrace the acceptable rules guiding prosecution of cases at the law court and avoid employing methods alien to the rule of law.

In a statement issued by its spokesperson, Mr. Hanacho Alogie, today in Lagos, CL maintained that these alleged actions of the anti-graft agency smack of attempts to victimise judges who cannot say anything in their own defense publicly, “and the victimisation of the judiciary is an affront to justice and equity.”

Hence, Alogie described the development as a deliberate attempt to pronounce Akpobolokemi guilty without establishing any element of the crime so alleged.

According to the statement,  “Since the commencement of this case last year, we have watched with keen interest the peculiar manner with which the EFCC is going about the prosecution of Akpoblokemi.

“While we are not biased about any attempt to probe any alleged misconduct by public servants, we are deeply concerned about the exceptionality of the modus operandi employed on this matter without recourse to the rule of law and the sacred place of the judiciary.

''As an arm of the government, the independence of this sacred institution should not be a subject of debate any day. But we are taken aback by the calculated attempt by the EFCC to harass, intimidate and subdue the lawyers representing Akpoblokemi in this case.

“As a law abiding citizen conversant with his rights as enshrined in the 1999 constitution, the former NIMASA boss did not hide his readiness to fully cooperate with the commission regarding the investigations, but it comes surprisingly that he is  being treated unfairly and his rights violated as well.”

Alogie further stated that: “It is imperative that we remind the commission that we are in a democratic dispensation where all institutions of the state work without another usurping its powers or suppressing its capacity to operate within constitutional limits. The commission's disregard for the judiciary particularly as it relates to Akpobolokemi’s lawyers testifies to the widely held belief that the EFCC is out to victimise him. The manhandling of the accused at the premises of a Federal High Court in Lagos, in spite of the position of the law, comes as an example.

''The latest in the series of harassments is the allegation leveled against Joseph Nwobike, SAN, counsel to Akpobolokemi, by the commission. Is it in the position of the commission to discredit the guardians and custodians of the law? If all lawyers are actually corrupt as they claim, who would then defend the defenseless in the face of the commission's seeming resolve to jail people without concrete evidence?''