Thursday, shut the main
entrance into the Abuja
International Conference Centre, venue of the on-going Nigerian Bar Association, NBA,annual
general conference.
The protest, which lasted over two hours threw the entrance into conference venue and adjouring areas into confusion.
The lawyers, who were
protesting against 500
percent hike in conference fees since the event began on Sunday, blocked the
entrance of the conference venue, which had been manned by fierce looking
security personal.
Lawyers who did not register and who had no conference tags were prevented from gaining access into the conference venue.
The protesting lawyers,
argued that entrance into annual conference venue was upon payment of practicing fee as provided in
section 6, sub-section 7 of the NBA constitution and not upon payment of conference fee as erroneously held by
the out-going national
executive.
They insisted they have a right to attend the Annual General Meeting, where the
outgoing administration led by Mr Joseph Daudu, SAN, will rendered account of his two-year stewardship.
Among those locked out
during the protest were NBA Third Vice-President, Dr Ogugua Ikpeze; General Secretary, Mr Muyiwa
Akinboro and Chairman of Council National Human Rights Commission, Prof Chidi Odinkalu. The lawyers barricaded the gate, preventing registered
lawyers being conveyed in buses from going in.
They also prevented people in from coming out as they engaged security agents in hot arguments, shoving and
pushing one another.
They insisted they have a right to attend the Annual General Meeting as fee- paying NBA member, whether or not they registered for the
conference.
"A lot of things are going wrong in NBA and if we keep quiet, things will spoil totally," one the protesting lawyer said.
Source...
http://www.vanguardngr.com
