Prosecute Lawal Daura, other usurpers for treason – Lawyers

Lawyers under the aegis of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), on Wednesday condemned the siege by the State Security Service operatives who were joined by police officers to prevent lawmakers from accessing the parliament for several hours on Tuesday.

Although the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, had denied the involvement of the police command in the operation, the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, on Wednesday led other principal officers of the National Assembly, to make a declaration that the siege, spearheaded by the Department of State Services on the complex is nothing but an assault on the Nigerian democracy.

Saraki stated this while addressing a World Press Conference in Abuja, Nigeria.

In a dramatic twist, the ruling All Progressive Congress party had alleged that the Senate President and the embattled Director General of the secret police, plotted the invasion, a claim that was denied by the leadership of the National Assembly.

Apparently miffed by the security operatives’ action, the lawyers, who described the invasion as harassment of lawmakers and an abuse of power, unanimously called on the presidency to without further delay prosecute the Director General of the SSS, Lawal Daura, to serve as deterrent to those who aim at disrupting our democracy.

The siege, which lasted for several hours yesterday until late afternoon when the SSS operatives stood down after receiving reports that Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, didn’t authorise the deployment and had sacked the Director General, Lawal Daura, as a consequence.

First to fire the shot was a constitutional lawyer and human rights activist, Chief Mike A. A. Ozekhome, SAN: “The chickens have finally come home to roost.

How fast the cookies crumble! The hitherto veiled crude assault on Nigeria’s democracy and democratic ethos has finally been lifted by a desperate, clueless, rudderless and non performing APC government, that has been nothing short of a “one- chance” vehicle of fake and failed promises of “change”.

Yes, “change” there has been, but one of negative, retrogressive and anti-people “change” that has not only impoverished and degraded Nigerians, but has actually endangered and imperilled our hard worn democracy, and enthroned incredible mediocrity, nepotism, cronyism, clannishness and corruption in government and governance.

Nigerians had woken up on 7th August, to behold the ugly spectre of a menacing armada of a siege laid on the NASS by mask-wearing DSS operatives.

It was an undoubted failed attempt to overthrow the 3rd arm of the legitimate government of Nigeria. Both in law and fact, de facto and de jure, it is a case of pure treason or reasonable felony that is punishable with either death or life imprisonment.

The crude invasion and condoning off of the NASS, wherein Senators, members of the House of Representatives, Clerks and staff of the NASS, were violently prevented by hooded operatives,

was hatched by top APC echelon and the presidency to illegally and unconstitutionally overthrow the leadership of the Senate, the red chamber of the bicameral legislature, by force of arms, through the vile use of weaponry.

Thank God for social media. The spine-chilling live videos mercilessly assailed us in our various homes. As is to be expected, the APC has disingenuously denied it.

But, no one believes it; not even its slavish, fawning, bootlicking, and die-hard supporters, cheerleaders and chorus masters.

The president is alleged to have cleverly travelled abroad to the UK, on a “working visit”, to provide a ready made alibi of not being party to the ugly and odious developments back home.

As our hard fought democracy totters towards total annihilation by this desperate government’s dastardly and unspeakable acts of impunity, totalitarianism, absolutism and fascism, Nigerians and the international community should brace up for tougher times ahead, in the fight for the control of the heart and soul of this beleaguered nation.

I see Mr Lawal Daura, the now sacked DG, DSS, as a mere unfortunate fall guy, who has been made the victim and guinea pig of our blood-spattered political chess board.

I say this because, there is no way that Daura, not being the president and Commander-In Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic, even with the intoxicating and inebriating effect of power liquor,

can unilaterally, whimsically, capriciously and arbitrarily lay siege on the NASS without presidential directive, or at least approval, whether tacit or overt, of the “ogas at the top”.

This is a very sad day for democracy in Nigeria. I am convinced that past heroes, heroines and founding fathers and mothers of this unworking Nigerian project must by now, be weeping in their graves.

But, make no mistake about it: it is simply not enough for this pretentious and janus-faced government to simply sack Daura, an action that was forced on it anyway, by the spontaneous national uproar and unanimous outcry and condemnation of this barbaric and unconscionable act of attempted treason.

The full weight of the law must be visited on Daura and all those usurpers who believe that Nigeria is nothing but their footstool of hegemonic self aggrandizement and ego satisfaction.

Sections 37 to 43 of the Criminal Code and sections 410 and 415 of the Penal Code, which operate in the southern and northern parts of Nigeria, respectively, deal with the offences of treason and reasonable felonies. While treason is punishable by death, treasonable felony is punishable by life imprisonment.

All those who participated in the national shame that has caused Nigeria monumental international odium, opprobrium and derision, must surely fall into one of these limbs.

It is treasonable felony punishable with life imprisonment for anyone to device, by overt acts, to depose or levy war against the sovereign, or to compel changes of policy, or to intimidate or overawe Parliament (NASS).

The sections provide, inter alia, that, anyone who levies war against the state in order to intimidate or overawe the president or governor of a state, or who conspires with others, either within Nigeria or outside Nigeria, to levy war against Nigeria, or instigate a foreigner to invade Nigeria with an armed force, is guilty of treason and is punished by death.

It is treasonable felony punishable with life imprisonment, for anyone to become an accessory after the fact to treason, or fails to report to appropriate authorities of his knowledge of people attempting to commit treason, or forms an intention to commit the offence of treason, or prepares, advises, aids, or participates in any act of war against a traditional chief or a band of citizens.

Let the law now take its full course. It is no respecter of any person. Enough is enough. Nigeria cannot descend lower than this lowly abyss, this unenviable nadir.

Let the president exonerate himself, for once, by speaking up loud and clear in condemnation of these subversive and criminal acts against Nigeria’s sovereignty.

He should not hide behind the facade of the now well known usual condescending ostrich-like pretentious taciturnity and indifference. No. It is not acceptable to the overwhelming shocked and angry Nigerians.

Another human rights lawyer, Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, said:”I honestly do not bother about the intrigues leading to the invasion of NASS. There was an illegal action of invasion and there was a prompt reaction by the Acting President, to arrest it, simple.

Whether it was Saraki that masterminded the invasion or whether the PDP or APC are both using it to curry public sympathy is not my brief, as I’m not a politician at all.

I don’t bother myself about all these permutations going round, but whenever any infraction of the Constitution has taken place, we shall confront it as usual, enough of politicians and their worthless intrigues.

In his reaction, Mr. Bolanle Olugbani, said:”The presidential system we run in Nigeria is one where the executive, the legislature and the judiciary are the three arms that constitute the government of Nigeria. The 1999 constitution guaranteed the equality of the three arms of government in Nigeria.

The three arms, though separate and distinct in their functions are suppose to serve as checks and balances on each other. When the legislature makes laws, the executive implement the laws and when the implementation is not clear, the citizens can approach the court of law on any issue concerning that law.

When the judiciary makes an interpretation it becomes part of our laws which regulate the executive.

The judiciary cannot make laws single-handedly but their decisions form part of what is called case law. The executive cannot make laws but can sponsor Bills which after deliberations can pass such a Bill into law with the assent of the President.

If the president withholds his assent, the National Assembly can override his veto with a two third majority vote.

The executive cannot express displeasure in whatever form by laying siege to the National Assembly or preventing lawmakers from doing their duly elected functions just as the executive arm cannot go to the Supreme Court to lay siege and prevent the Supreme Court or judicial officers from adjudicating in a matter because the Supreme Court didn’t favor the executive arm in previous case.

A physical assault or siege on any of the three pillars of the executive, the legislature or the judiciary is an abuse of power. It’s an impeachable offence.

It goes to the root of integrity of the federal government. No arm of government should hold another arm of government hostage. Any act that bothers on what happened yesterday, is an act that undermines our democracy and foist anarchy on our society.

The abuse of power started a couple of years ago when the executive arm at 2:00am launched gestapo operations by climbing fences of Supreme Court Justices, breaking down their walls purportedly on anti corruption operations that was clearly an act of intimidation by the executive arm on the judicial arm.

Yesterday, a similar act has been carried out by this government against the legislative arm of government.

In conclusion, clearly, we have an executive arm headed by President Buhari, which is power drunk or unable to control its overzealous agents. The president is a bad example for governors.