Group calls on IGP to prosecute alleged fake lawyer who assaulted police officer in Delta

THE Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, has been called upon to effect the prosecution of an alleged impersonator, Mr Harrison Gwamishu, Coordinator of Behind Bars Initiative (BBI).

Gwamishu was suspected of impersonating lawyers to defraud unsuspecting members of the public after being caught manhandling a police officer, CSP Eyo Anietie, in Asaba, the Delta State capital.

The call for his arrest and prosecution came from a group, the Emissaries of the People International Organization, in a statement signed by Barrister Festus Elume and Comrade Emmanuel Orhorho, National Chairman and Secretary and made available to journalists in Warri.

The group described the action of the accused as a criminal offence which must not be swept under the carpet to serve as a deterrent.

It also demanded a probe into the activities of the Behind Bar Initiative (BBI), a right group coordinated by the same Mr Gwamishu, which is allegedly not registered to operate as a human rights body.

“We, Emissaries of the People International Organization condemn in the strongest terms the unprovoked, unwarranted and unnecessary assault of CSP Aniette Eyoh by one Mr Harrison Gwamishu, Coordinator, Behind Bar Initiative (BBI).”

“Just as we don’t support policemen harassing innocent Nigerians, it is the same way we don’t support Nigerians assaulting a policeman let alone a Divisional Police Officer in his office.

ALSO READ: How we had our daughters through IVF, Michelle Obama reveals

“We discovered to our greatest surprise, that Mr Harrison Gwamishu, Co-ordinator of Behind Bars Initiative (BBI), is not even a lawyer whereas on his Facebook and Twitter handles, he wore the wig and gown of a lawyer.

“We discovered also in the same vein that behind Bars Initiative is not even registered whereas Mr Harrison Gwamishu claims it has been registered and he is using the name, medium and the purpose of the organization to extort money from unsuspecting members of the public.

“We call on the Inspector General of Police, Commissioner of Police, Delta State to do more to protect our policemen. At lease, policemen are human beings, not animals and spirit.

“Keeping silent while our policemen face this kind of attacks by Mr Harrison Gwamishu and his cohorts is not the best way to motivate our policemen into making our society a better place.”

“We as a body have taken it as a burden to ensure that Mr Harrison Gwamishu and his cohorts are brought to justice by ensuring that the appropriate sanctions are meted out on him and his co-travellers.”

“We call on the judiciary to ensure that people like Mr Harrison Gwamishu and his cohorts are kept where they belong and the society is protected from people like this.”

Meanwhile, in his reaction, Mr Harrison Gwamishu denied the claim of being an impostor or a fake lawyer.

He said that the picture in which he was dressed like a lawyer was taken in a documentary he produced to project the degrading life in Nigerian prisons himself having been imprisoned for four years.

According to him, he only posted the picture, in which he posed with a wig and a gown, on the social media to keep the memories of the role he played in the documentary.

It will be recalled that Mr Gwamishu, some weeks ago, allegedly walked into the office of the DPO Eyo Anietie of ‘C’ Division Police Station, Cable Points, Asaba, on a Saturday, violently requesting the release of a self-confessed cultist that was under detention.