In what could mark a sweeping transformation of Nigeria’s criminal and juvenile justice administration, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has proposed the deployment of dedicated lawyers across every police station in the country.
The proposal was tabled on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, when the newly elected President of the NBA, Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, led the association’s National Executive Committee on an official visit to the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu, at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
Presented under a UNICEF-supported child justice initiative, the NBA’s plan seeks to embed a police lawyer inside every divisional station nationwide.
The initiative aims to guarantee immediate legal representation and oversight for minors who come into contact with the law, ensuring vulnerable children are shielded from procedural abuses while bridging the operational divide between station officers and legal counsel at the very first point of detention.
The NBA President emphasized that institutionalizing legal personnel at grassroots stations would address systemic bottlenecks and eliminate the persistent frictions and open confrontations that have historically plagued encounters between legal practitioners and police officers across the federation.
Responding to the delegation, IGP Disu commended the NBA’s initiative, stressing that the protection of fundamental human rights and the maintenance of law and order must converge to ensure effective justice delivery.
The IGP called for a structured, institutional framework between the Nigeria Police Force and the Bar to resolve professional disputes internally before they degenerate into hostile confrontations.
IGP Disu also urged legal practitioners to demonstrate professionalism by discouraging the practice of recording and circulating sensitive police encounters on social media platforms for entertainment, pointing out that such acts unfairly undermine personnel working under strenuous conditions.
To institutionalize the partnership, both leaders agreed to set up a dedicated NPF–NBA communication and conflict-resolution mechanism, rollout specialized joint training programs, and introduce measures to curb delays in criminal trials across Nigerian courts.