27th
November, 2023
PRESS RELEASE:
ABDUCTION,
MOLESTATION OF BARRISTER LAWAL:
MURIC
DEMANDS JUSTICE
An Ibadan-based lawyer, Barrister Abdul Waheed
Olatunde Lawal, was abducted and severely beaten on the 13th of November, 2023 after
his vehicle was ambushed at Iware Junction, about 20 kilometers from Ilua,
along Ilua/Ekokan Road in Saki West. The Baale of Ilua, Chief Ajani Kilani
Azeez, has been fingered as the brain behind the criminal abduction and
brutalisation of the lawyer.
Meanwhile an
Islamic human rights organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has waded
into the matter. The Muslim rights advocacy group has demanded justice for
Barrister Lawal. MURIC insists that the case must not be swept under the
carpet.
In a statement circulated to newsmen on Monday, 27th
November, 2023, the Executive Director of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC),
Professor Ishaq Akintola, averred :
“The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) is in possession of
video clips, one of which reveals the inhuman treatment meted to Barrister
Abdul Waheed Olatunde Lawal, an Ibadan-based lawyer.
“According to the narration, Barrister Lawal was
abducted and severely beaten on the 13th of November, 2023 after his vehicle
was ambushed at Iware Junction, about 20 kilometers from Ilua, along
Ilua/Ekokan Road in Saki West. The Baale of Ilua, Chief Ajani Kilani
Azeez, has been fingered as the brain behind the criminal abduction and dehumanizing
brutalisation of the lawyer.
“Barrister Lawal
suffered a broken arm, bodily injuries, as well as unbearable pain in his eyes
and eyes as a result of heavy blows rained on him during the unlawful abduction
and in the course of his illegal detention and unlawful interrogation at the
palace of the Baale of Ilua. The victim was later hospitalized for five days. He
is still visiting the University of Ibadan Teaching Hospital (UCH) where he is
still being treated for eye and ear injuries.
"This is definitely a case of conscienceless
power subjugating powerless conscience. Chamberlain's 'five evils', namely,
brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution have manifested
in the dehumanization of Barrister Lawal by the thugs of the Baale of Ilua in
Saki South West.
"The perpetrators of this animalistic treatment
of a legal luminary must be taught the lessons of their lives. The law must
take its full course and no aspect of the case must be swept under the
carpet.
"One of
the video clips shows how the lawyer was forced to kneel down while he was
being beaten up in the presence of the Baale and surrounded by the Baale's men.
This is unacceptable. It is preposterous, outrageous and horrendous.
“Section 34 (b) & (c) of the 1999 Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended (2011) stipulates the right to the
dignity of the human person as it declares:
‘Every individual is entitled to respect for the
dignity of his person, and accordingly…(b) no person shall be held in slavery
or servitude and (c) no person shall be required to perform forced or
compulsory labour.
“The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights,
Article 4, Clause 1 & 2 also says, ‘Human
beings are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to respect for his
life and the integrity of his person.’
“Contrary
to the above constitutional and continental clauses and stipulations, the Baale of
Ilua, Chief Ajani Kilani Azeez, through his agents and under his watchful eyes
(as evidenced in the video), caused Barrister Lawal to be forced to kneel down
and, under duress, to answer questions capable of implicating him in a court of
law. Blows were rained on the lawyer if he did not give a ‘favourable’ answer.
“It is
therefore very glaring that the Baale and his accomplices have severally and most
severely violated Barrister Lawal’s Allah-given fundamental human rights to
freedom of movement as provided in Section 41(1) and the dignity of his human
person as provided in Section 34 of the Nigerian Constitution, the grundnorm
and font et origo incarnate.
"We appeal to the Oyo State judiciary to take
full cognisance of this incontrovertible evidence. The judiciary should
therefore ensure that all the culprits face the full wrath of the law according
to the level of their involvement because it is a general principle in law that
there must be a degree of participation in any criminal liability. We assert,
without any fear of contradiction, that all those who sat watching the
molestation of the lawyer in the video are accomplices.
"MURIC
reminds the police and members of the Oyo State judiciary that those who dealt
so brutishly and mercilessly with a lawyer in the course of duty will not
hesitate to do worse to them if they have the opportunity. Unless they are
punished there will be no deterrence to others who may want to out-Herod Herod
in future.
"A baale's palace is not a police station. It is
therefore not recognized as a place where investigation, interrogation, arrest
and detention can take place. The Baale of Ilua has arrogated to himself the
function of the police. He has turned himself to the judge and prosecutor, the
Alpha and the Omega. His word is law.
"According
to the law, abduction occurs when somebody is taken to a place against his
will. Barrister Abdul Waheed Olatunde Lawal was ambushed at Iware Junction, 20
kilometers from Ilua. He was forced out of his vehicle and put in another
vehicle, all against his will. He was then forcefully driven 20 kilometers away
from the scene of abduction and taken to the Baale’s palace where he was illegally
detained.
"What they did to the lawyer in the baale's palace
is nothing but trial by ordeals. The lawyer was subjected to torture as well as
physical and psychological trauma. The perpetrators must pay for this horrible
atrocity.
"MURIC wishes to put the Nigerian Bar Association
(NBA) on notice. Against the law and against good conscience, the Baale of
Ilua, a part III Baale who is still unrecognized according to Chiefs Law has
elected to encroach on Allah-given fundamental human rights of a practicing
lawyer and bona fide member of the prestigious NBA. What infra
dignitatem! Here is Rome burning. Nero must not be dancing.
"It is immaterial whether the victim is a member
of the Baale’s family or not but the assault and molestation occurred in the
cause of his duty as a lawyer. Attack on a lawyer in the cause of discharge of
his duty as a legal practitioner is an attack on the noble legal
profession.
"It is most unacceptable to force a full-grown
man, a family head and bread winner (and a lawyer for that matter) to be on his
knees in the midst of people who have no respect whatsoever for education,
civilisation and rule of law to be thoroughly assaulted. The law must surely
take its due course.
"NBA must stand
up to be counted when one of its own suffers undeserved, undignifying and dehumanizing
treatment like this one. Assault on one is assault on all. The molestation of
Barrister Lawal by the thugs of Baale of Ilua is a threat to the rule of law,
to law and order and to civil decorum.
"We reject the Baale's alibi as he claimed in
another video clip that it was the Area Commander who gave him the order to
'arrest' (abduct) Barrister Lawal. It is an attempt to hide under the canopy of
an officer of the law when indeed the Baale has no scintilla of respect for the
rule of law.
"The Area Commander will do no such thing because
he knows that the Baale's thugs are not policemen, the only agents of
government empowered by law to effect arrest, interrogation, investigation and
prosecution. The Baale's action is therefore ultra vires, illegal,
illegitimate, unlawful and unconstitutional.
"Before we drop the anchor, it may be pertinent
to reveal that Barrister Lawal is the Vice Chairman of MURIC in the Oyo State branch
of our organisation. We attest to his integrity, incorruptibility and high
level credibility. We will therefore not rest on our oars until justice is not
only done but seen to have been done. Injury to one is injury to all.
“We assert
clearly, categorically and unequivocally that under the law, the conduct of the
Baale of Ilua, Chief Ajani Kilani Azeez and his thugs render them liable to conspiracy,
conduct likely to cause breach of the peace, illegal arrest, unlawful detention
and criminal abduction. They should be so charged. We demand justice for
Barrister Lawal.”
#OyoJudiciary
#NBA
#LawyerAbductedTortured
#JusticeForBarristerLawal
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Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Executive Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).
