PDP, Atiku kick as DSS operatives re-arrest Sowore, Bakare
.Say action brazen attack on judiciary, evidence that Nigeria is sliding into dictatorship
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the 2019 Presidential election, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, have described the dramatic re-arrest of Omoyele Sowore, Convener, #RevolutionNow Protest, and his co-defendant, Olawale Bakare, on Friday by operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS), at the Federal High Court, Abuja, as the height of impunity against the judiciary and brazen attack on judicial officers of Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu’s caliber.
Sowore and Bakare had resisted being rearrested by the officers of the security outfit shortly after Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu adjourned the day’s proceeding till February 11, February 12 and February 13, 2020 for definite hearing.
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It would be recalled that Justice Ojukwu had on Thursday, ordered the DSS to release Sowore and Bakare within 24 hours after meeting their bail conditions and also awarded a N100, 000 fine against the DSS.
On Thursday night, the DSS complied with the court order by releasing the defendants and also paid the fine.
At Friday’s sitting, the DSS Counsel, Hassan Liman, SAN, told the court that the security agency had already complied with the order of the court.
He also hinted that based on the agreement between the parties, the matter be adjourned till February 11, 12 and 13 to enable the parties respond to applications filed.
Also speaking, Counsel to the defendants, Femi Falana, SAN, confirmed that his clients were released to him on Thursday evening.
“My Lord, at about 5 o’clock yesterday (Thursday), I received a call from my respected colleague to send our lawyers to receive our clients.
“I am happy to tell you that our clients were released and the N100, 000 cost was also paid.
“On account of this, on behalf of our defendants, we wish to express our profound appreciation for your leadership and for standing up for integrity and for standing for the rule of law in Nigeria.
“I also thank my colleague for impressing it on their client to obey the court order.
“I hope my learned friend will allow the defendants to get their freedom notwithstanding the charges,” he told the court.
Justice Ojukwu, who commended the DSS for obeying the Court order, said everyone must be ready to allow the law to take its course irrespective of position one held.
“It is obvious that the DSS has demonstrated their commitment to rule of law.
“No one is above the law,” the judge stated, adding that those at realms of power must respect the rule of law.
“The DSS has earned the respect of Nigerians for this,” the judge said.
She then adjourned till February 11, 12 and 13 for definite hearing.
But as everyone filed out of the courtroom, no fewer than 15 armed officers of the DSS, who had laid ambush for the defendants, made their way towards Sowore and Bakare.
There was a stampede as the officers cocked their guns scaring people away.
Sowore and Bakare, however, resisted being rearrested, running back into the courtroom.
The development led to the disruption of court sitting as the judge hurriedly retired to her chamber while the court workers, lawyers and journalists scampered for safety.
Amidst the commotion that pervaded the courtroom, the officers of the DSS stood their ground on re-arresting the defendants.
Sowore, while speaking with the newsmen, in the courtroom, said the ploy of the security agency was to kill him.
He said their action had shown that they had no respect for the law, the court and the citizens.
However, after over an hour battle, Sowore and Bakare were led out of the court by his team of lawyers, friends and surrounded by the stern-looking DSS officers.
The security agents, who remained adamant on re-arresting him, refused to listen to anyone, including Falana, and they did not give any reason for their action.
As Sowore and Bakare walked out of the court premises, the DSS operatives drove their vehicle to accost the defendants but they refused to board the vehicle.
Falana, who was visibly unhappy with the treatment, cautioned them against re-arresting them in the court premises.
The human rights lawyer then insisted that if the defendants must follow them, they must go in his car.
Sowore and Bakare were later conveyed to the DSS office in Falana’s Lexus Jeep with registration number: ABC 202 HV while the officers escorted them with their vehicles.
The two men are facing trial on seven counts of treasonable felony, fraud, cyber-stalking, among others. They had pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Condemning Sowore and Bakare’s re-arrest, the PDP said that the invasion of the Federal High Court, Abuja by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) further confirms that Nigeria, under the Buhari Presidency, is finally sliding into a frightening dictatorship.
National publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement, expressed PDP’s shock at the crude of operation of the agents of state who invaded the court to forcefully arrest Omoyele Sowore, barely 24 hours of his release from detention.
The party alerted that the invasion of the court is a vindication of its earlier stand that the nation is no longer governed by democratic principles of rule or law and dictates of the constitution.
“Today, the world watched with shock as operatives of the Presidency-controlled DSS, in a most horrific manner, swooped on the court, held the judiciary to ransom, disrupted proceedings, scared away the judge, chased away lawyers and journalists, attacked and re-arrested persons standing trial within the precincts of the court, in a manner that can only be obtainable in Idi Amin’s Uganda.
“The invasion is in a forceful suspension of our constitutional order and a further battering of the judiciary, which points to an emerging lawlessness that can only find space in a military regime.
“Without prejudice to the charge against the Convener of the “Revolution Now” movement, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, the PDP holds that, in a normal democracy, it is the duty of the court to determine the fate of an accused, according to the laws and not a resort to brute force by the government to silence persons with dissenting voices”, stated the party..
The PDP noted that such a violation is a direct invitation to anarchy and a huge threat to the unity, peace, stability and corporate existence of the nation and the safety of her citizens.
Condemning the act, the party said “this is not the Nigeria our citizens yearn for and it is imperative to restate that Nigeria, under the Buhari Presidency, is fast sliding into a dark country where, laws are suspended, the judiciary is assaulted and citizens are stripped of their fundamental rights”.
The party urged well-meaning Nigerians and the international community to call the Buhari Presidency to order before its actions derail the nation and trigger a breakdown of law and order in the land.
It specifically charged the international community to have more than a passing glance at the situation in Nigeria as any crisis in the country, God forbid, given Nigeria’s population, is capable of having a negative spillover effect across the African continent and other parts of the world.
The PDP urged Nigerians across board, irrespective of political, religious and ethnic learnings, to unite in condemnation of dictatorial tendencies of the present administration and in defending democracy and unity as a nation.
Also, the PDP candidate in the 2019 Presidential election, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, while condemning the re-arrest of Sowore and Bakare by DSS operatives lamented that the agents of the state were not only causing commotion in court but also for frustrating the judgment of a court of competent authority.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general election expressed his extreme anguish of spirit having watched what he called the unfortunate drama.
He said never in the history of Nigerian democracy has a judge been treated in such a disdainful and brazen attack on not just her person and office, but on the entire judiciary.
Atiku said: “This is unacceptable. It is a rape on the sanctity of the court. Nigeria is not a dictatorship. We are a democracy, no matter how inconvenient this fact is to the powers that have forced themselves on us.
“I call for an immediate inquiry to be set up to identify those responsible for the maltreatment meted out to Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu and the desecration of her court, and indeed the Nigerian judiciary. They must be sanctioned to the highest extent permissible by our laws.
“I further call for all law enforcement agencies in Nigeria to immediately respect not just the court order made by Justice Ojukwu, but the order of any court in Nigeria, on any detainee, be it Omoyele Sowore, Sambo Dasuki or Ibrahim Zakzaky, among others.
“We cannot have a situation where our government is quick to obey foreign court orders and even quicker to disobey domestic court orders. This is symptomatic of a mindset that is servile to foreign powers and brutal to Nigerians.
“Without the rule of law, there can be no rule at all. Power in Nigeria still flows from the people, not from the barrel of a gun. I call on all men and women of goodwill not to keep quiet or sit on the fence at times like this”.
The Waziri Adamawa said to keep Nigeria’s democracy is the paramount duty of all concerned stakeholders, while calling on all peace loving people to speak up against this tyranny and side with the Nigerian people.
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