In what appears to be a disturbing escalation of the leadership crisis rocking the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Owerri Branch, approximately 18 police officers were deployed to barricade the entrance to the Magistrates’ Court premises housing the NBA Owerri Bar Centre, preventing Senior Advocates of Nigeria, former Chairmen, eminent senior members of the Bar and other members of the Branch from gaining access to the venue of the requisitioned Extraordinary General Meeting scheduled for Saturday, 10 October 2026.
The development followed an earlier directive reportedly issued by the Chief Registrar of the High Court of Imo State, His Worship Nneoma Chika Ezerioha. Reliable sources disclosed that, on Wednesday, 7 October 2026, the Chief Registrar had orally instructed security personnel guarding the Magistrates’ Court premises not to permit access to the premises on weekends.
Whatever doubts may have surrounded the existence of that directive were heightened on Saturday when members arrived to find the court gate firmly secured with a padlock and the security personnel who ordinarily manned the entrance conspicuously and curiously absent.
The incident comes against the backdrop of a deepening crisis within NBA Owerri, arising from allegations of misappropriation and mismanagement of Branch funds against the Chairman, Dr. Mazi Udegbulem.
In response to the crisis, 183 financially up-to-date members of the Branch requisitioned an Extraordinary General Meeting and formally transmitted their requisition to the Chairman on 2 October 2026.
Following the Chairman’s refusal to direct the Branch Secretary to convene the meeting within the stipulated seven days, the requisitionists, relying on Article 11(5) of the Uniform Bye-Law proceeded to schedule the meeting for Saturday, 10 October 2026.
Rather than allowing the members to exercise their constitutional rights, the events of Saturday have raised grave concerns about the apparent deployment of state institutions to frustrate a legitimate gathering of lawyers. Allegations that the embattled Chairman enlisted the machinery of the Imo State Police Command and the office of the Chief Registrar to obstruct the meeting have further intensified the controversy surrounding his leadership.
In a remarkable display of courage, solidarity and determination, Senior Advocates of Nigeria, former Chairmen, former Secretaries, eminent senior members and other members of the Branch gathered outside the locked gate, standing under the scorching sun and demanding an explanation for the extraordinary spectacle of lawyers being denied access to their own Bar Centre to conduct a legitimate meeting of their Association.
The heavy police presence, coupled with a directive reportedly issued by the Commissioner of Police the previous day, did little to dampen the resolve of members who had turned out to demand accountability and defend their rights under the Branch Rules.
Addressing the gathering, a respected senior member of the Bar and former Chairman of the Branch, Dec Madu, commended members for their courage, steadfastness and unwavering commitment to the cause of accountability.
He subsequently announced that the Extraordinary General Meeting had been rescheduled for Thursday, 15 October 2026.
Journalists who were present at the scene conducted interviews with members and documented the developments before the gathering eventually dispersed.
The events of 10 October 2026 will undoubtedly occupy a significant place in the history of NBA Owerri. Beyond the immediate controversy surrounding the leadership of the Branch, they raise fundamental questions about accountability, the rights of members, the limits of institutional authority and the disturbing implications of deploying state security apparatus against lawyers seeking to exercise their legitimate associational rights.
For a profession whose very foundation rests on the rule of law, the spectacle of Senior Advocates, former Branch Chairmen and other legal practitioners standing outside a locked Bar Centre, demanding access to their own meeting, is as extraordinary as it is troubling.
The struggle for accountability in NBA Owerri, it would appear, is far from over.
Chinedu Agu
Solicitor | Notary Public | Past Secretary, NBA Owerri | FPD | Returnee from X-Squad Detention [RXD]