NBA Awka condemns lawyer assault in Anambra and urges a probe after a barrister was allegedly brutalised by state task force operatives

The Nigerian Bar Association, Awka Branch, on Wednesday condemned the violent assault on a lawyer by operatives of the Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra task force and called on the Anambra State Government and security agencies to urgently investigate the incident in Awka, the state capital.

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The association said the assault occurred on Monday at Eke Awka Market, where a legal practitioner, Barrister Charles Ifeanyi, was allegedly brutalised during an enforcement exercise by the state-run task force, which oversees environmental sanitation, cleanliness policies and public order.

In a statement issued in Awka, the Publicity Secretary of the NBA Awka Branch, Michael Ozojiofor, said the lawyer was attacked by task force operatives, including personnel of the Agunaechemba security outfit, following what he described as a false claim that the lawyer interfered with their duties.

Ozojiofor said video footage attached to the statement showed the moment Barrister Ifeanyi was forcefully dragged into a task force vehicle as traders and passers by recorded the incident.

The images, he said, clearly showed the physical condition of the lawyer after the attack, describing the incident as a disturbing example of unchecked impunity.

Members of the NBA Human Rights Committee later visited the task force office, where operatives claimed they were conducting a lawful enforcement exercise and alleged that the lawyer challenged them, Ozojiofor said.

He added that Barrister Ifeanyi was detained alongside his brother, who had gone to inquire about the incident, and that operatives denied the human rights team access to the detainees while threatening to arrest them as well.

Ozojiofor said the association had formally drawn the attention of the Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, and the Nigeria Police Force to what he described as persistent lawlessness by enforcement operatives.

The NBA Awka Branch, he said, would pursue all lawful steps to ensure that those responsible are held accountable.

Speaking on the incident, Barrister Charles Ifeanyi said he was at Eke Awka Market between 3 pm and 5 pm when officials of the task force were confiscating a trader’s goods.

He said one of the officials slapped the trader during the exercise and that he intervened verbally to question the action.

According to him, about 15 operatives immediately descended on him, beat him repeatedly and pushed him to the ground, causing his head to hit the pavement.

Barrister Ifeanyi said he was handcuffed, dragged into a vehicle and that the phones of people recording the incident were seized.

He added that operatives of the Agunaechemba outfit later joined in beating him before he was taken to a detention facility in Awka, where he was held for several hours and released late at night.

He said he sustained injuries to his head and body and had undergone medical tests at Amaku Hospital, with results pending.

Petitions, he said, had been submitted to the Commissioner of Police and copied to the Commissioner for Environment, who supervises the task force.

Reacting to the incident, the Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, confirmed that the assault took place and described the manhandling of the lawyer as wrong.

He said he had spoken with the task force commander, who claimed the lawyer challenged the enforcement team, adding that an investigation would be carried out.

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Efforts to reach the Commissioner for Environment, Felix Odimegwu, were unsuccessful as calls and messages were not returned as of the time of filing this report.