Sowore was arraigned over alleged unlawful assembly, criminal conspiracy, and inciting public disturbance.

Recall that he was arrested with others on New Year eve in Abuja.

Others arraigned with him and granted bail, but in the sum of N1 million each are Juwon Sanyaolu, Peter Williams, Emmanuel Bulus, and Damilare Adenola.

The Chief Magistrate, Mabel Segun-Bello also requested that Sowore should provide two sureties in like sum.

One of the sureties, the court said, must be a civil servant not below grade level 12.

Sowore was also ordered by the court to remain in Abuja, and report physically to the court registrar twice every week –Monday and Friday – pending the hearing and determination of the case.

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The protest scheduled to hold on August 5, 2019 was disrupted at the starting point by security agencies in Lagos.

Describing the disruption as illegal and undemocratic, the judge, Maureen Onyetenu, added that it was wrong to have maltreated and arrested the protesters.

The order of the court followed a suit filed by one of the protesters, Olukoya Ogungbeje.

Ogungbeje who is a lawyer said he was along with others tear-gassed by security agents.

According to him, the action of the security agents violated sections 38, 39 and 40 of the 1999 constitution, which guaranteed the right to peaceful assembly and association.

He therefore asked the court to award the cost of N500 million should against the Federal Government.

He explained his case: “I met agents and operatives of the respondents who had barricaded the venue of the peaceful protest for good governance in Nigeria…

“I was tear-gassed by agents of the respondents and the peaceful protest was forcefully disrupted by the respondents.

“I have been denied my fundamental constitutional rights of peaceful assembly and association by the respondents, without cause.”

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Sowore and Bakare, however, pleaded not guilty to the amended two-count charge brought against them by the office of the Attorney General for the Federation (AGF).

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the charges include: conspiracy to commit treasonable felony, contrary to Section 516 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap. C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004; and treasonable felony, contrary to Section 41(a) of the Criminal Code Act, Cap. C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 which are punishable under the same section of the Act.

At the resumed hearing, Justice Ojukwu struck out the 7-count charge earlier filed against the defendants, following an application by the AGF counsel, Aminu Aliyu, asking for the substitution of the previous charges with the new ones.

Alilu also brought forward the evidence of payment of the N200, 000 fine imposed on the prosecution by the court.

However, when the AGF lawyer told the court that he was in the court with the witnesses to give evidence in the trial, the defence counsel, Abdul Mahmud, raised an objection on the ground that the full statement of the witnesses was yet to be served on them.

Mahmud argued that what prosecution served on them was the summary statement of the four witnesses.

Mahmud stated that the video clips of the witnesses’ statement would be needed to prepare for defence.

He submitted that fundamental rights of the accused – Omoyele Sowore and Bakare – must be respected and must be given opportunity to see those evidence.

The lawyer insisted that since the prosecution had the witnesses’ evidence in tape, he demanded that the tape be played in the open court.

The judge, then, asked for a copy of the witness’ statement.

After perusing the summary statement, she directed the prosecution to avail the defence the video clips and electronic materials as requested.

Aliyu in his submission said he would comply with the court’s directive and make them available to the defence team within two weeks.

The AGF lawyer also hinted that the witnesses would be called within five days.

Justice Ojukwu, after taking the arguments, adjourned the matter until March 11, March 12 and March 13 for definite trial.

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Sowore and Bakare are standing trial over charges of treasonable felony, fraud, cyber-stalking and insulting President Muhammadu Buhari.

Justice Ojukwu of a Federal High Court in Abuja gave the order for the payment by Malami, on Wednesday, during the hearing of the case against Sowore and Bakare.

The cost was said to be the penalty for the attempt by the prosecution lawyer, Aliyu Halilu, to delay trial.

Said the judge: “The honourable court views the delay as uncalled for and the application for adjournment as frivolous in view of the reasons for the adjournment sought.

“Each party is entitled to five adjournments. The prosecution has almost exhausted her five adjournments even before the commencement of trial. There are consequences for every infraction.

“Premised on the provision of section 396(6) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, the prosecution has earned the award of cost against them. Prosecution shall pay a cost of N200,000 to the defence as a consequence of frivolous adjournments.”

Earlier, prosecution counsel had requested the court to adjourn the case to Thursday.

The reason given was that the charges against the defendants had been amended but not been served on them.

However, Sowore’s lawyer, Olumide Fusika opposed the request, stating that instead, the case should be struck for lack of diligent prosecution.

He argued that the prosecution counsel had not even complied with the order of the court requesting to provide the defence with statements of the witnesses they intended to call.

In obvious solidarity with Sowore and Bakare, present at the court were Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka; Former senator, Shehu Sani, and Chidi Odinkalu.

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Mohammed made this known to parties at the mention of the motion ex-parte with suit number: FHC/ABJ/CS/1409/19 filed by Sowore, the publisher of Sahara Reporters, to challenge his continued detention by the Department of State Service (DSS).

While Sowore is the applicant, the Director General of DSS and the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, are 1st and 2nd defendants in this matter.

The judge told counsel representing parties in the case that he decided to withdraw from the matter because Sahara Reporters, an online media, had in 2016 and 2019 accused him of collecting bribe in a case between the Federal Government and Gabriel Suswam, former Benue Governor and current senator representing the state at the National Assembly.

Mohammed, who sought the opinions of the lawyers, said in the interest of justice, it would be better for him to recuse himself.

The judge then stood down the case for few minutes.

“I have an issue with this matter. I want you, counsel, to look at it before we come back. I want to have your opinions.

“When the registrar of this court called me and informed me that I will be handling this matter, I asked if the chief judge was around and I was told he traveled for Christmas.

“Inside me, my conscience is telling me I should not take this matter subject to what people will say and what you will think.

“This applicant is a publisher of Sahara Reporter. Sometimes in 2016, he accused me of taking money for a matter to compromise the course of justice and I returned the case file but it was returned back to me that it would not be reassigned.

“Again this year, around June, the same applicant accused me of taking money again on the same case and I had to hands off again.

“Then the case was reassigned to Justice Abang.

“In all honesty, will it be fair for me to sit on this matter concerning the publisher?” he asked.

Mohammed, who said parties’ confidence was paramount in a matter, said: “justice is a fair trial.”

“What if in a way my order seems not to be favourable, I will be seen as being paid for, or when the proceeding is even going on, the applicant himself will be apprehensive what judgment will this judge give,” he added.

Earlier on Monday, Sowore’s lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, who said he was ready for the matter, had informed the court that they filed an application of enforcement of the applicant’s fundamental human right dated November 15.

Godwin Agbadua, counsel to the DSS, told the court that he got to know about the proceeding through the media.

“I leant the 1st responding, DSS DG, was summoned to be in court today.

“We are today in court because of the high respect we have for the court.

“We are unaware that the applicant has filed several processes against the 1st respondent but what we are not aware of is the process before this court that brought us here today.

“In this regard, we will be relying solely on the court guidance for this application because we have not been served with the summon directing 1st respondent to appear today,” he said.

On his part, the AGF lawyer, Abdullahi Abubakar, told the court that the AGF had filed his processes earlier dated December 5.

“We also filed a motion, we filed further and better affidavit in response to the counter affidavit and notice of hearing of the motion on December 19,” he said.

Abubakar hinted that though a preliminary objection had been filed, he would need time to regularise that.

Falana, however, objected to Abubakar’s submission of asking for more time.

He said he was surprised that Agbadua said he read about the case proceeding through the media.

“My learned friend met us this morning and he did not ask why we were here,” he said.

Falana told the court that Agbadua wouldn’t have moved for adjournment of the matter because he never said he was not ready for the case.

Agbadua, however, said he had not been served with processes.

“Someone whose matter is to be determined by court ought to be informed that this matter is to be determined.

“Where there is no service of processes, including hearing notice, whatever that is done as to the matter in connection with such party will be a nullity,” he had argued.

On his part, Falana insisted that Agbadua had been served with all the processes.

“He has been served. My learned friend has all the processes,” he said.

Justice Mohammed, who decided to afford all the parties to take a look at the processes in court file, also read out the letters sent to the DSS and office of the AGF by Deputy Registrar, Litigation, informing them of the proceeding, and delivered by the bailiff on December 19 to both offices.

Judge, who was unhappy with Agbadua’s comment, later stood down the case for the parties to regularise all the processes and to seek for their opinions on his decision to withdraw from the case.

When the court reconvened, Falana said though he had no course to doubt the judge, it was better in the interest of justice for Justice Mohammed to recuse himself from the matter.

“I am flabbergasted by this. Although I am not aware of this publication, My Lord, as you raised this matter, my mind went to a case of Late Chief M.K.O. Abiola Vs FGN in 1995 where a Supreme Court disqualified eight justices from hearing any of the appeal arising from Abiola’s case on ground that the Concord Newspaper of which Abiola was the publisher had written a story concerning the eight justices which had led to the institution of libel suit against the newspaper.

“It was a unanimous decision of the apex court that the justice of the case requires that the justices should recuse themselves.

“As My Lord has rightly noted, justice must not only be done but must have been seen to have been done.

“In view of this, we are of the view that this case is sent back to the chief judge for reassignment.

“Also my Lord, this is a case in which the integrity of this honourable court has been questioned by armed invasion of the court which occurred on December 6, 2019,” he said.

On his part, the DSS lawyer, Agbadua, said in order for the public not to misconstrue the position of the security outfit, it would be better not to make a comment on the judge’s decision.

“The learned SAN has said it all. Most importantly the agency I represent has been in the media over this matter.

“For that singular reason, I will not state a position on whether or not My Lord can hear it because it could be misconstrued to be in form of the agency trying to delay the hearing,” he said.

However, the AGF lawyer, Abubakar, did not oppose the judge’s decision.

Justice Mohammed, who then recused himself from the suit, ordered that the case file be transferred to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, for reassignment.

Justice Inyang Ekwo had, on December 17, fixed today, December 23 to hear from the DSS and AGF why Sowore should not be released from custody.

Sowore, through his lawyer, Falana, had filed a motion ex-parte before Justice Ekwo to demand for his unconditional release from the DSS detention in pursuance of the release order made by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu on November 6.

He said his continued detention regardless of the release order made by the court on November 6 was “unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void.”

The operatives of the DSS had rearrested Sowore shortly after a court proceeding at the Federal High Court in Abuja on December 6, barely 24 hours of releasing him and his co-defendant, Olawale Bakare, from custody.

Justice Ojukwu had fixed February 11, 2020, as next adjourned date.

However, Abubakar Malami, SAN, the AGF and Minister of Justice, had, on December 13, announced his take over of the prosecution of Sowore in the charge of treasonable felony levied against him.

Source:  NAN

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They are to appear on December 23 over the re-arrest and continued detention of convener of Revolution Now, Omoyele Sowore.

The order of the court as handed down by Justice Inyang Ekwo followed the case of violation of fundamental human rights by Sowore against the DSS and AGF.

Recall that Malami had said that the release of Sowore was not a decision he could take on his own.

Malami made the statement in response to the call of Sowore’s lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, that Malami should effect the release of his client.

Malami took over Sowore’s case from the Department of State Services on Friday, pointing out that his action was to speed up the case.

But following Falana’s request, Malami said the case was already in court and he could not order Sowore’s release.

“When parties submit their issues for determination to a court of law, they lack exclusivity of decision over such issues without recourse to the court.

“We remain guided by the established tradition and will not take unilateral decision without recourse to the rule of law,” he said in a statement issued by his media aide, Umar Gwandu.

Sowore was arrested in August following a plan to organise a protest against the government.

The protest, Revolution Now, was quashed by security operatives who barricaded the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, venue of the protest.

The court later ordered Sowore’s release by the DSS after he had met his bail conditions.

The DSS was not bothered until the court gave it an ultimatum.

The DSS eventually complied, only to re-arrest Sowore barely a few hours after.

He was said to have been arrested on fresh charges.

The alleged invasion of the court to re-arrest Sowore sparked off controversy, making many in Nigeria and outside to query the government’s violation of human rights.

The post Sowore:  Court summons DSS DG, AGF over rights violation appeared first on Frontpageng.

The Presidency, in a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said the DSS did not at every occasion needs its permission to carry out its responsibilities as stated in the nation’s constitution.

It stated that it should not surprise anyone who had followed the actions and words of Sowore that he became a person of interest to the DSS.

That, the Presidency said, was because Sowore called for chaos through his Revolution Now meant to overthrow the democratically elected government of Nigeria.

Sowore, the Presidency said, was no ordinary person just expressing his views like any other.

“Mr. Sowore is no ordinary citizen expressing his views freely on social media and the internet.

“He was a presidential candidate himself, who ran – and lost – as the flag bearer of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the February 23 general elections,” he said.

The Presidency said no government would “allow anybody to openly call for destabilisation in the country and do nothing,” under “Revolution Now.”

It added: “Nigerians do not need another spate of lawlessness and loss of lives all in the name of ‘revolution’, especially not one that is orchestrated by a man who makes his home in far away New York – and who can easily disappear and leave behind whatever instability he intends to cause, to wit, Nnamdi Kanu.”

The statement reads in full:

SOWORE: BETWEEN FACTS AND FICTION

The Presidency notes some of the insinuations in the media about the arrest by the Department of State Services (DSS) of the agitator, Omoyele Sowore.

The DSS does not necessarily need the permission of the Presidency in all cases to carry out its essential responsibilities that are laid down in the Nigerian Constitution – which was the foundation for the restoration of democracy in our country in 1999.

However, it should not surprise anyone who has followed his actions and words that Sowore is a person of interest to the DSS.

Sowore called for a revolution to overthrow the democratically elected government of Nigeria.

He did so on television, and from a privileged position as the owner of a widely read digital newspaper run from the United States of America.

He founded an organisation, Revolution Now, to launch, in their own words, “Days of Rage”, with the publicised purpose of fomenting mass civil unrest and the elected administration’s overthrow.

No government will allow anybody to openly call for destabilization in the country and do nothing.

Mr. Sowore is no ordinary citizen expressing his views freely on social media and the internet.

He was a presidential candidate himself, who ran – and lost – as the flag bearer of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the February 23 general elections.

Nigeria’s democracy was a long time in the making, and was achieved after decades of often harsh, military-led overthrows of government: the kind of situation Sowore was advocating.

To believe in and desire armed revolution is not normal amongst ‘human rights activists’, as Sowore has been incorrectly described.

Again, it is no surprise that he should be a person of interest to the DSS.

Nigeria is already dealing with an insurgency that has left millions of people displaced and desperate in the northeastern region of our country.

The Boko Haram militants, who are behind the violence, also fancy themselves to be fighting for some sort of revolution.

Nigerians do not need another spate of lawlessness and loss of lives all in the name of ‘revolution’, especially not one that is orchestrated by a man who makes his home in far away New York – and who can easily disappear and leave behind whatever instability he intends to cause, to wit, Nnamdi Kanu.

This is a matter for the DSS, acting under its powers.

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The action of the operatives came barely a few hours after it complied with the order of the court to have Sowore released, having met the bail conditions over the case of treasonable felony against him.

Sowore who was released on Thursday was however in court on Friday for a fundamental rights enforcement hearing in the trial over the non-compliance of DSS with court orders.

The action of the DSS was said to have resulted in pandemonium as court officials and others fled the scene.

It is not known why the operatives came to re-arrest Sowore again shortly after his release.

Sowore was arrested in August following the plan to carry out a protest titled Revolution Now.

The protest was frustrated as security men barricaded the venue of the protest, National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

After several weeks in detention, Sowore who was charged for treasonable felony among other crimes, was granted bail by the court.

The court ordered the DSS to release him, having met his bail conditions.

The order was to no avail however until Thursday when the court gave the DSS within 24 hours to carry out the order.

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He was released Thursday night.

His release was effected barely a few hours after the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja gave DSS 24 hours within which to release him.

Omoyele Sowore who has spent over three months in custody was arrested in August over a protest against the Federal Government.

He was charged to court for alleged treasonable felony among other crimes.

Although the court had ordered his release, having met the bail conditions, DSS refused to set him free several weeks after.

Giving the order for his release on Thursday, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu also awarded a N100,000 fine against the DSS.

The fine was for the delay to serve the defence counsel with the additional proof of evidence in the ongoing trial of Sowore and Olawale Bakare.

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Falana said contrary to the DSS’ claim, lawyers waited in vain for over four hours to receive Sowore at the headquarters of the DSS after the order for his release was served.

He however said lawyers would be present to receive Sowore today.

Falana is the counsel to Sowore who has been detained since August 2019 over alleged involvement in a treasonable felony offence among others by organizing the Revolution Now protest.

The statement issued by Falana to fault the claim of the DSS reads in part:

“On 6/11/19 the bailiff of the federal high court wanted to serve the reproduction warrants issued by the court on the Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS). But the SSS asked the Bailiff to call back at 10.00 am on 7/11/19. The bailiff did and was able to serve the reproduction warrants on the DG of the SSS.

“Upon acknowledging the service of the reproduction warrants the SSS assured the bailiff and five lawyers from the defence team that our clients would be released yesterday. But the SSS decided not to release our clients to our lawyers who waited in vain in the agency’s headquarters for not less than 4 hours.

“When Sowore said that he would not make a statement without first consulting with me the SSS management called me on phone on 6/8/19. Assuming the SSS had wanted to release our clients since yesterday the management would have contacted me.

“It is pertinent to point out that the meaning of  reproduction warrant issued by a trial court is that the defendants be produced for the purpose of releasing them having met their bail conditions.  In the instant case, the federal high court did not order the SSS to hand over Messrs Sowore and Bakare to any person but to produce them for the purpose of releasing them having met the suffocating bail conditions imposed on them by the trial court.

“Even though the SSS disobeyed the order of the Honourable  Justice Taiwo for the release of Mr. Sowore on 24/9/19  it has turned round to announce its readiness to comply with the order of the Honourable Justice Ifeoma Ojukwu for the release of Sowore and Bakare from illegal custody.”

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