By Alfred Ledump
As the war against quackery is intensified in the legal profession, especially in Rivers State, the chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Port Harcourt branch, Sylvester Adaka said six fake lawyers have been caught and are currently undergoing prosecution.
He made the disclosure in his Port Harcourt Bank Road office while interacting with newsman. Adaka noted that the NBA has zero tolerance for quackery and that the association is doing everything within its power to flush out quacks from the system.
According to him, quackery in the legal profession is something that the association takes seriously. He maintained that the national secretariat has set out various procedures for dealing with quacks such as, having a biometric verification for lawyers and the issuing of specific numbers which he described as Supreme Court of Nigeria numbers (SCN) to lawyers.
Barrister Adaka pointed out that such numbers were affixed on any legal documentation as stamp and any lawyer who does not have it is assumed to be fake.
Mr. Adaka also posited that the Port Harcourt branch also has a specific method of registration of their members, stressing that if they don’t have a membership number and SCN number to tender they cannot be regarded as lawyers.
Speaking on the human rights abuse in Rivers State, he noted that there were evidence of human rights abuse in the state but not as widespread as it may be in other states, noting that few incidents that were reported have been waded into.
He reeled out some of his achievements as NBA chairman, Port Harcourt branch to include the increase in continuing legal education for lawyers as well as getting them more united than ever before.
The NBA boss who contended that his association operates an open door policy however condemned the Nigeria Police for not having a smooth relationship with other organizations in the State and Nigeria at large. Mr. Adaka disclosed that his association has met with various security organizations in the State to proffer solutions to the problems confronting Rivers but the Nigeria police has remained adamant in granting their request.
“The police and the lawyers have not been having a smooth relationship, I think that should be the fault of the police, and I doubt if the police have had any smooth relationship with any group in Nigeria. We have tried to meet with the hierarchy of the police and we have not been able to meet with them.
“We have met with the DSS, Civil defence, Immigration, Army and others but the police are very adamant, we have written to them, they have also refused to reply,” he maintained.
