Nigerian Bar Association

[Saturn Girl]

Yes, there is one! Not recommended for the faint of heart. And clear your cookies after you look at it.

Their webpage is below:

http://www.nigerianbar.com/


Odd that on DNS lookup it says:

Registrar: WILD WEST DOMAINS, INC.
Status: REGISTRAR-LOCK
Dates: Created 11-aug-2004 Updated 07-dec-2005 Expires 11-aug-2006
DNS Servers: NS.EZ-WEB-HOSTING.COM NS1.EZ-WEB-HOSTING.COM

Registrant:
Harlequin Communications Technology LLC

Registered through: SSLcatacomb Network
Domain Name: NIGERIANBAR.COM

Domain servers in listed order:
NS.EZ-WEB-HOSTING.COM
NS1.EZ-WEB-HOSTING.COM


and Juris International gives a completely different contact address for what might be the real Nigerian Bar Association:
http://www.jurisint.org/en/asc/163.html

[topcop]

Holy Cow - went to the NBA site you put up..... very interesting, to say the least !! You are right, it is not for the faint of heart !!! --tc

[poirot]

Check the lawyers directory with surname Williams:

WILLIAMS Nash Hamilton called to the bar: February 20th 1886
WILLIAMS Ayodele February 27th 1923
WILLIAMS Herbert Majare Withnell August 9th 1923

even those called to the bar in 1923, they would be over 100 years old.

and there don't seem to be any details on any that I checked.

Folks,
I can authoritatively tell you that www.nigerianbar.com is the official website of the Nigerian Bar Association. The comments about the Williams surname is not accurate, what the website captures is the list of lawyers called to the Nigerian Bar since inception. If some of the names do not have any entry under them it is because the people so named did not subscribe or they are possibly dead.I advise that you make any enquiry about the site before you start jumping to conclusions . Subscribtion is a sine qua non before you have your details on the website. The Managers of the site in conjuction with the Nigerian Bar Association carry out a check on any prospective subscriber. If have any enquiry about any Nigerian Lawyer send such to onlineeditor@nigerianbar.com and you will be assisted for free

[poirot]

I thought that perhaps the directory included lawyers called to the Nigerian Bar since inception, but then I read a mention under History, page two, that reads:

The first Nigerian Barrister to be enrolled at the Supreme Court was Christopher Alexander Sapara William. He went to the Inner Temple and was called to the English Bar in 1879. He enrolled on the 11th of August 1880. He practiced in both Accra and Lagos.

I check the directory under "Christopher", "Alexander", "Sapara", "William" and did not find an entry, which lead me to believe that the directory must be listing living lawyers.

Also, with most if not all entries totally void of details, all you have are names. Any scammer in Lagos can adopt a name from this directory and use webmail addresses and mobile phones, and still point a victim to the NBA website to validate his identification.

*EDIT

If have any enquiry about any Nigerian Lawyer send such to onlineeditor@nigerianbar.com and you will be assisted for free

I can imagine that this can be time consuming for nigerianbar.com so that's an effort that's very much appreciated

[Saturn Girl]

Actually I have 2 questions ekky;

1. Why does the domain not contain the letters .ng? Why is is not hosted in Nigeria?

2. Why does the picture of the Supreme Court Chief Justice load later than the rest of the page, and why is it such a lousy picture?

Originally Posted by Saturn Girl

Actually I have 2 questions ekky;

1. Why does the domain not contain the letters .ng? Why is is not hosted in Nigeria?

2. Why does the picture of the Supreme Court Chief Justice load later than the rest of the page, and why is it such a lousy picture?

1. (a) For the same reason that as a British subject I can register a .com -- Just because a site is about Nigeria does not equate to a requirement for a national identifier in the domain name. (b) Why should a website about Nigeria be hosted in Nigeria? There are no national boundries on the internet other than those imposed by authorities of certain countries, or by the barrier of language itself.

2. This is not a webdesign forum and discussions on the subject should be confined to Private Messages.

Originally Posted by ekky

I advise that you make any enquiry about the site before you start jumping to conclusions .

ekky, I have reviewed this thread and can find no 'jumping to conclusions' prior to your post. Considering your IP address, I would like to assume that you have some connection with the website in question?

[Saturn Girl]

Great ekky, maybe you can clear this up for us. The Nigerian Bar Association address (Under Contact Us) is given as:

NBA Secretariat:
Address: Plot 1261 Adeola Hopewell Street, Victoria Island, Lagos
Telephone: 234-1-4618287, 4707432, 610783, 610778
Fax: 234-1-4618287

This link (also quaoted above, to Juris International, published by Lexum, http://www.jurisint.org/en/asc/163.html
give the Nigerian Bar Association address as:

Official name Nigerian Bar Association
Address Ozumba Mbadiwe Street
City Victoria Islands
Country Nigeria
Postal code P M B 12610
Telephone +234 1 470 7432
Fax +234 1 325 3144

can you clarify which is correct? Thank you.

[joewein]

Gentlemen, this looks like a legitimate Nigerian website to me.

Its contact page lists several land lines, no mobile phones at all. All the executives listed have landline phone numbers too.

The sites was created in 2004. Scam sites do not normally live to be that old.

The amount of information available on the site also suggests this is a legitimate organisation.

ekky, welcome to Fraudwatchers.org!

Originally Posted by Saturn Girl

can you clarify which is correct? Thank you.

Since they both list the same phone number:

+234 1 470 7432

maybe both are correct. The Nigerian Bar Association may have more than one office. In any case, it would not make any sense for a fake site to list the real phone number (listed also on http://www.jurisint.org/en/asc/163.html). I believe this site is the genuine article.

[FW Admin]

Thanks for the clarification, Joe - indeed I have had independent confirmation that this site is legitimate.

As previously mentioned, there are certain questions that may be asked regarding validity of an internet site; we are all, I'm sure, aware of how easy it is to set up and propagate something that is bogus and false.

Ekky, I thank you sincerely for your post; your kind offer is indeed gracious and accepted gratefully, If you have any further such information that may help and assist our guests and members, it would be welcomed. I, too, concur with John in that I am unable to find any 'jumping to conclusions' - however, saying that, can I just remind members and guests of the posting etiquette found within the Forum Guidelines at this link. I would remind everyone that this is a support website, and not a debating one. Discussions over how a site looks, or the format of its content is immaterial and irrelevent in the scope of this site.

Thank you.

[ekky]

Folks,
Thank you for the response so far. Most of the queries raised have actually been answered. However the one about the street address ought to be considered and clarified.

Ozumba Mbadiwe Street is another street that bounds the premises of the NBA office , as you can see there was no house or property number in that address, however Adeola Hopewell Street is the other street that bounds the office and the official address is as described on the website. The office is in a complex sandwiched between the Nigerian Law School and the Nigerian Law School hostel, all these properties are bound by these two streets mentioned above. The Property being described as being on Ozumba Mbadiwe Street and Adeola Hopewell Street and referred to as the affice address is one and the same.

To answer the question as regard my connection to the site , yes i can confirm that i worked on the content of the site and i am a practising lawyer in Nigeria. The raison d'etre for the establishment of the website is to combat 419 issues and incidences. If any "solicitor" contacts you and represents to work in Nigeria all that is required is a physical address from him and a (Nitel)land phone number and we will be able to verify whether the person is genuine or not.

Nigeria is a country of over 120 Million people and as with every country we have fraudsters but i can tell you that there are still honest Nigerians.

[FW Admin]

Once again, many thanks indeed for your informative post. Your comments and input are indeed welcome, and I personally commend you on your efforts to thwart what must be an intolerable situation for you in your homeland.

I know a lot of good, hard working and honest West African people - Nigerians, Ghanaians and others, many of whom I am proud to call my friends. As with all things, however, the minority activities of a few can tarnish the reputations of many and it certainly doesn't help when government issues are clouded by allegations of corruption.


Welcome to FraudWatchers, Ekky; the resources of our website are at your disposal.

ekky,

Many thanks for the further clarifications. I am very happy and greatful that we have someone here with a direct link to a resource in Nigeria itelf. Especially a resource that we can use to further the cause of education to our visitors.

Thank you.

[ekky]

Folks, thanks for the response.

It is gratifying to be of help.

I'm trying to validate the legitimacy of a supposed Nigerian Law firm, who claims to be affiliated with the Central Bank of Nigeria. The name of the law firm is Benson Haggi Chambers. Also, is there a securities company in Nigeria anywhere by the name All Standard Securities? Any help provided is most appreciated.

[poirot]

A starting point might be to ask the CBN. They have a discussion forum (419) where they may be able to answer that question:

http://www.cenbank.org/Forum/FrameForum.asp

Also, you can search the database at the Nigerian Bar Association: http://www.nigerianbar.com/searchdata.php

I don't see any entry for "Benson Haggi Chambers"

All I can find about "All Standard Securities" of Nigeria is scam related, such as this one:
http://www.joewein.net/419/emails/20...0/452602.4.htm

CBN, A non-listed law firm. A security company. ALL common elements mentioned in 419 scams.

[poirot]

The web site: http://www.nigerianbar.com is showing the host's holding page lately. Does anyone know if it will be back online soon or if it has simply shut down.

[Rob]

you can also ask the people from www.nigeria-law.org via administration at nigeria-law.org

[poirot]

Thanks Rob. This is what I was looking for.