THE ARREST OF A SUSPECT IN COURTROOM - A THREAT TO NIGERIA'S DEMOCRACY AND MOCKERY OF THE JUDICIARY
With no iota of doubt, the dramatic display by DSS Operatives in Federal High Court Abuja in attempt to rearrest Omoyele Sowore, the convener of RevolutionNowProtest today is a shameful, unlawful and wrongful act that should be condemned by every sane person with good conscience. As a patriotic and sane Nigerian, I have never felt so disappointed, dismayed and shocked by the failure of my leaders as much as I felt after watching those video clips in the courtroom and while the suspect was leaving. Many at times, I wonder if the concept of RULE OF LAW truly operates in Nigeria and feel very sorry for the future of the country.
From what I gathered in my reading of some national dailies today, I realized that Omoyele Sowore; after being held hostage for almost an hour at a Federal High Court in Abuja today, operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) later re-arrested him.
As a true and law abiding Nigerian, a peaceful individual, advocate of truth and justice, as well as a legal practitioner by profession, I can never be comfortable with this sadden and worrisome incident, irrespective of my political affiliation. I can never defend tyranny, crass dictatorship and disobedience to the orders of a competent court and a show of disrepute to the judiciary. Even if Sowore has jumped or violated any of the conditions of his bail, the proper procedure to challenge this is by filing an application to the Court to have the bail revoked and subsequently re-arrest him on the order of the court.
By the extant provision of the law, a warrant of arrest may be executed at any time and in any place other than the court room in which a court is sitting. Section 28(2) CPL, Section 27(2) ACJL, and Section 43(2) ACJA. It also cannot be executed in a legislative house, and it does not matter whether the house is on session or not (as it was the previous position of Section 31 Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act 2017, and the case of Tony Momoh v. Senate of National Assembly (1981) 1 NCLR 21. The new position is now enshrined under Section 23 of the LPPA 2018.
In the same vein, the disruption and invasion of the court proceedings are punishable offences, as these amount to Contempt of the court which is frowned at; by the Nigerian law.
In a sane society where the RULE OF LAW truly operates, the government in power (particularly at the Federal level in the case of Nigeria now) would have spoken against this show of lawlessness and shame asap; this is where PMB comes in. More so, since all the security agencies in the country are under his overriding authority, there is need for his swift intervention to curtail this ugly trend and mockery of the Nigeria's judicial system.
In conclusion, it is a general conviction that in a true democratic society, power lies in the hands of the masses who elected the political officers to represent their interest in the political offices, hence, the masses should not be treated as inconsequential and worthless beings. If this ugly trend continues, then the hope of a common man or ordinary Nigerian in getting justice through the judiciary is lost.
#NoToTyranny
#NoToContemptOfCourt
#NoToLawlessness
#Mahmood Abdulbasit Adewole Esq.
#Legal Practitioner based in Nigeria
#abdulbasitadewole@gmail.com
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