Enugu, August 27, 2025. The Nigerian Bar Association’s Annual General Conference 2025 reached a decisive moment on Day 5 as legal luminaries, security chiefs, and human rights advocates converged in Enugu to dissect one of Nigeria’s most urgent dilemmas: balancing citizens’ rights with national security.
At the plenary session titled “Citizens’ Rights & Security Concerns”, the panel, featuring General Christopher Musa (CDS), IGP Kayode Egbetokun, Prof. Tony Ojukwu SAN, Femi Falana SAN, and Prof. Mike Ozekhome SAN, confronted deep-seated issues of abuse, mistrust, and systemic failures in the country’s security framework.
From allegations of torture and arbitrary arrests to the growing mistrust of security agencies, speakers did not hold back. Femi Falana SAN described Nigeria’s security crisis as “a battle not only against insurgents and criminals but against impunity itself,” while Ozekhome SAN warned that national security must never be weaponized to suppress civil liberties.
The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, acknowledged institutional shortcomings but emphasized the need for closer collaboration between the Bar and law enforcement in rebuilding public trust. Prof. Tony Ojukwu SAN urged that constitutional rights must remain sacrosanct even in times of crisis.
Key recommendations included rebuilding trust through transparency, strengthening institutions with proper funding, accelerating judicial processes in security-related cases, and eradicating exploitative practices such as “mobilisation fees”.
The session closed with a firm consensus that peace and justice are inseparable, and Nigeria cannot secure its future without a deliberate fusion of rights protection and effective policing. NBA President Mazi Afam Osigwe SAN later presented plaques to the panelists, affirming the Association’s commitment to drive reforms beyond the conference halls.
This session, coordinated by Chukwuma Ezeala and moderated by Babatunde Ogala SAN, has already been described by conferees as one of the hardest-hitting engagements of the AGC 2025.
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