The detention of three attorneys who were working on a petition for the All Progressives Congress in the Rivers state governorship race has been denounced by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

The NBA President, Yakubu Maikyau, referred to the occurrence as regrettable and upsetting in a statement released by the organization’s National Publicity Secretary, Akorede Habeeb.

Also, the Association vowed to advocate for punishments against any police officers who were discovered to have abused their authority during the incident.
The petition was reportedly being prepared by the attorneys, Jerry Aondo, Sobere Nelson, and Odum Eyiba, when they were detained by police in a hotel in the state.

They are representing the governorship candidate of the APC Tonye Cole, who is challenging the outcome of the election which produced Simi Fubara of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) as Governor-elect. Maikyau condemned the use of police officers as tools for contravening the rule of law.

He stated that even though the police had told him they would be released, the NBA will make sure that those responsible for the lawyers’ arrest would be brought to justice.

The president issued a warning that instances where it appeared that police were being employed to intimidate and harass lawyers were a blatant violation of the rule of law and a danger to the country’s democracy.
He asserts that the bar must also take up the issue to ensure that anyone, including police officers, who may be discovered to have participated in the actions that resulted in the attorneys’ arrests is punished for any potential abuse of authority, the statement continued.