The Nigerian Bar Association, Warri branch, on Friday, condemned the unlawful murder of Mr. Joseph Pessu, who was allegedly shot dead by soldiers deployed to enforce the compliance of the stay-at-home order.
The incident occurred in Ugbuwangue community in Warri on Thursday.
In a statement signed and made available to DAILY POST, the NBA Chairman, Mr. Michael .A. Asugo Esq, called on the Delta State Government as well as the Police Force to immediately apprehend the culprits and prosecute them for murder.
While calling on the government to immediately set up a committee to monitor the level of compliance by security agencies involved, the NBA said, “The Government should quickly re-brief and re-educate the security personnel involved in the enforcement of the directive on what is expected of them so as to avoid a repeat of the ugly and unwarranted incident of 2nd April, 2020.
“The irresponsible and undisciplined soldiers who threatened to unleash mayhem on Warri should be fished out and prosecuted as they are obviously not fit and proper persons to be in the Armed Forces of this country.”
The NBA also said it was the unwarranted harassment of members of the public by security operatives that led to the senseless and unlawful killing of Mr. Joseph Pessu by Soldiers.
According to the NBA, the incident, which occurred at Ugbuwangue community in Warri led to an unconfirmed report of an attack on a military personnel by aggrieved members of the public.
“The issue in turn led to a video in circulation in the social media by some soldiers threatening consequential mayhem on the people of Warri.”