This is a unique incident considering frequent reports of police brutality against civilians with lawyers and journalists being occasional victims.
The police chief told Punch News that members of the force were attacked while on duty at the Umuneke Ngor Magistrate’s Court.
Punch earlier gathered that the members of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) in Imo State staged a protest asking the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris to sack Galandanchi who had this to say:
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“The two lawyers who are counsel for the three armed robbery suspects attacked policemen. The video clip of what transpired in the court and how the lawyers broke chairs and used them on my men is with us.
“One of the lawyers positioned his car in front of the door to the court room in order to prevent the police from re-arresting the suspects once they stepped out of the court.
“We never invaded the court and no police officer attacked or assaulted the magistrate. We were waiting for the discharged robbery suspects to step out of the court so that we can re-arrest them. But the two lawyers who were defending them prevented us.
“They positioned their vehicle at the door of the court in order to aid the escape of two out of the three suspects.
“One of the lawyers went inside and broke chairs in the court and used it on my men who were on a lawful duty.
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“We have the video clip and we will be using it as one of our evidence in court.”
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The bone of contention
The police chief was responding to comments earlier made by Damian Nosike, the chairman of Imo's NBA, who alleged that two lawyers Emma Eke and Chukwuemeka Anyanwu were beaten by unidentified policemen during a court session on Thursday, July 19, 2018.
He explained that a female magistrate Ngozi Onyenemezu was not left out in an assault launched by the cops who also named her a "prostitute".
