A human rights lawyer, Barrister Olawale Ojoge Daniel, has described Nigeria as a criminal enterprise where law is been flouted with impunity by some bigwigs in the society and some law enforcement officers.
He said this is made possible because majority of Nigerians , particularly , the aggrieved , do not know their rights or fail to seek redress in the appropriate court of competent jurisdiction and would rather opt to suffer in silence.
Barrister Ojoge Daniel made this submission against the backdrop of the recent raid of the Bodija rice market and the carting away of the traders’ goods and unspecified sums of money by men of the Nigerian Customs in lbadan.
He stated this while featuring on an interview programme on Splash FM , lbadan, the Oyo State capital.
According to him , it was baffling that the customs men had to go to Bodija market at midnight in order to carry out their act in the absence of the shop owners.
Ojoge Daniel said the government agency which claimed there are certain sections of Nigerian constitution that backed their action , failed to quote the particular relevant sections it relied on to do so while justifying its operation to members of the public.
He is of the view that nobody or any organization can act as both the accuser and the judge in his own case , adding that , it is fruitfulness for the rice traders to be asking Governor Seyi Makinde Oyo State to intervene in the matter or to be running from pillar to post.
He rather advised them to engage the services of very sound lawyers and take the Customs Service to the appropriate Court of law of competent jurisdiction for the prosecution of their case.
Ojoge Daniel lamented that , in the past , some lawyers , who are human rights activists , would have taken the case up but many of them have detailed from the cause in order to pursue wealth.
He , however , reiterated that there are still some dogged ones who remain genuinely committed to defending the vulnerable in the society.
He said there was the claim by some of the rice traders that their goods came in through the proper channels , that is Lagos, while some said they bought theirs from certain Hausa traders , and wondered if the latter would be arrested by the men of the service.
He then called on the Governor Seyi Makinde-led government to bring succour to the lives of the Bodija rice traders whose source of livelihood have been hampered .
Ojoge Daniel said governments at all levels have some intervention funds that are set aside to deal with this kind of situation and that this is an instance that calls for its judicious use.
