Bayo Onanuga, spokesperson for President Bola Tinubu, has gloated over the arrest of Aloy Ejimakor, counsel for the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, who joined a protest calling for his client’s release.

Mr Onanuga accused the lawyer of joining forces with Omoyele Sowore, activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, whom he described as a “career anarchist,” in the #FreeNnamdiKanu protests in Abuja.

“I spotted Aloy Ejimakor, one of Nnamdi Kanu’s lawyers, among the small group of protesters mobilised in Abuja by Omoyele Sowore,” Mr Onanuga said shortly after the lawyer’s arrest on Monday. “I wonder what Mr Ejimakor was thinking when he decided to join this shambolic protest.”

He criticised Mr Ejimakor for joining the protest instead of focusing on a strong case for his client, who has been in detention.

“Rather than focusing on preparing a strong case, Mr Ejimakor has resorted to extra-legal tactics, joining a career anarchist to influence the process,” the presidential spokesman said.

Mr Onanuga also claimed Mr “Ejimakor’s action questions his adherence to professional ethics. Legal authorities should consider appropriate sanctions for the unethical conduct of the bearded lawyer.”

A lawyer, Inebehe Effiong, however, countered Mr Onanuga’s statement that Mr Ejimakor’s joining the #FreeNnamdiKanu protest “questions his adherence to professional ethics.”

“I am not aware of any law or ethical rule in the legal profession that prohibits a legal practitioner or a counsel on record from taking part in a peaceful demonstration to ask or demand the release of his client,” Mr Effiong said.

He added, “Your postulation is borne out of mischief. You cannot dictate to a Nigerian when or for what purpose to protest. The fact that your cowardly regime has unleashed violence on peaceful protesters is what you should be addressing.”