The Collection of conference materials by delegates at the ongoing 62nd Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) holding at the Eko Atlantic City in Lagos State resumed on Wednesday afternoon.
The NBA’s Technical Committee on Conference Planning (TCCP) also reassured delegates that there are enough bags and other materials to go round.
It also urged members to continue to cooperate with the registration officers in the process to ensure that everyone gets their conference materials accordingly.
On Tuesday night, the registration center for the collection of materials at the ongoing programme was broken into, vandalised, and looted by some delegates, with reports of a number of lawyers and registration officers injured.
The NBA President, Olumide Akpata in his reaction had expressed regrets that there were lapses in the distribution process, but added that the reaction by the affected lawyers was “a national embarrassment as some of our members conducted themselves in a most despicable manner not expected of members of the profession.”
“We cannot afford to risk the lives and safety of our members, colleagues and contractors at the conference venue on account of collection of materials. I have therefore met with the leadership of the TCCP, and a decision has been taken for the destroyed registration center at the conference village to be shut down and it is now being shut down. However, alternative arrangements have been made for the collection of materials by delegates.”
TVC News gathers that the new collection center, which is located opposite the Eko Atlantic, is smaller than the previous one (which is now unusable), and as a result, access to it for collection of materials was controlled, as Delegates were admitted into the collection center in batches of 80 at a time.
Earlier, there were a total of six plenaries and five groups of breakout sessions over a three-day period spanning August 22 to 24, 2022.
On Thursday, the lawyers will hold their annual general meeting, which will be chaired by The outgoing president, Mr Akpata. The Conference ends on Friday, August 26, With the swearing-in of a new executive committee to pilot the affairs of the NBA for the next two years, to be led by the new president, Yakubu Maikyau, (SAN).