At least 27 suspects were apprehended on Tuesday during a raid conducted by the Anti-Touting and Ethics Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ibadan branch.
The operation targeted individuals involved in the unlawful practice of law, touting, and unauthorised preparation of legal documents within court premises across the Ibadan metropolis.
The raid led by NBA Ibadan Chairman, Mrs Folasade Aladeniyi; the Secretary, Mr Olakunle Akintola and the anti-touting Committee Chairman, Mr. Segun Popoola among others, took place within the court premises of Iyaganku, Mapo, Gate and Iwo Road Courts, where touts found to playing the trade of illegal production of legal papers were arrested.
The Anti-Touting Committee of the Bar apprehended various individuals engaged in illegal activities, including roadside typists drafting land agreements and affidavits, a task solely designated for lawyers.
Additionally, lawyers were found violating the Ethics of the legal profession by participating in ambulance chasing, and touting at the criminal registry of courts, and some were identified as fake lawyers, among others.
The Secretary of the Bar, Mr. Akintola while speaking on the move said it was in a bid to sanitise the legal profession and regulate the conduct of lawyers by ensuring that non-lawyers refrain from engaging in the illegal practice of law.
Mr. Akintola stated further that the core mandate of the Anti-Touting Committee of the bar is the maintenance of law and order in the practice of law, waging war against all forms of touting, ambulance chasing, illegal practice of law, impersonation and illegal representation in courts.
“The suspects have been taken to the police station, their profiles taken and they will be charged to court in due process,” he said.
Akintola also used the medium to call on the public to only engage qualified lawyers, especially for the preparation of legal documents and not roadside ones.
