Justice Ojukwu, who gave the order after Aminu Alilu, counsel to the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), sought for an adjournment to enable him serve the defendants the amended charges.

Justice Alilu held that the action was an attempt to delay the case.

She described the application for an adjournment as “frivolous.”

It was reported that Sowore, alongside Bakare, was initially standing trial on seven counts of treasonable felony, fraud, cyber-stalking, among others.

He was arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) on Aug. 3, 2019, ahead of a nationwide protest.

They were, however, released, on Dec. 24, 2019.

At the resumed trial, Alilu had informed the court that the AGF had taken over the matter.

According to him, to that effect, we have filed an amended two-count charge.

He, however, said he was yet to effect service of same to the defendants, while asking for an adjournment.

“With kind permission of the court, we plan to do this after today’s proceeding. That is my application My Lord,” he said.

Justice Ojukwu then asked him what he meant by his remark.

“I don’t understand? When did you take over the matter,” she asked.

Alilu, who told the court that the office of the AGF took over the case late December, attributed the delay in service to a total review of the case file.

“How long does it take to review facts of the matter? Or this is how you are going to prosecute this case?” the judge, who was visibly angry, asked.

When the AGF lawyer apologised for the delay, Ojukwu said: “I do not like apology. You better drop your apology and do the right.”

In his argument, Counsel to the defendants, Adeyinka-Olumide Fusika, disagreed with Alilu on hid application.

Fusika, who told the court that the AGF was not prepare for the trial, asked the judge to strike out the case for want of diligent prosecution.

He said he was surprised that Alilu, who signed and filed the initial 7-count charge on Sept. 21, 2019, could be telling the court that he was just taken over the case.

“I am not sure my learned friend is not the same A.K. ALILU that signed the first charge served on us.

“They filed this and they are now coming to court to say they are taken over the case. Taken over from who? From itself?” he asked.

Fusika also told the judge that early in the morning, the defence team met the AGF lawyer to ask if he had any fresh application but told none.

He said such action was to unjustly punish the defendants.

The lawyer argued that the prosecution had, not less than three times, disobeyed the court order, even when the judge ordered for the defendants to be released.

He said even when the judge ordered the prosecution to serve on the defence all the necessary processes in the trial, the AGF still came to the court with excuses.

“We apply that the case be struck out for want of diligent prosecution. It seems they are only interested in the drama.

“We started this since August 2019. Sowore is a family man, his business is almost grounded.

“He is marooned here in Abuja because of the court order but for the effort of well wishers, he would have been sleeping under the bridge.

“For Mr Bakare, he cannot leave Oshogbo and Abuja. This is a way of punishing my clients before they are tried,” he remarked.

He added that the AGF had no hope in the trial.

“Do you have any hope?” he asked Alilu.

According to Fusika, I will bring my clients any time they are ready with the charges.

“I will undertake for them. The prosecution are a law to themselves because they have disobeyed you many times even though they are law officers,” he said.

However, Alilu told the court that nobody approached him for fresh application.

Justice Ojukwu then asked who was lying between the defence and prosecution counsel.

“You see why people don’t trust lawyers? How can you do something like that and now denying it?” the judge asked.

Ojukwu then asked if the court registrar was aware of the discourse between the counsel.

In his explanation, the registrar told the court that the defence team met him prior to the commencement of the case if the prosecution had filed any fresh application but that he told them to meet the AGF lawyer.

Alilu, however, argued that the prosecution was entitled to five adjournments before a case could be struck out, citing relevant section of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA).

“We have also informed the court that we are ready to proceed in this matter considering the fact that the prosecution has not been granted adjournment up to that time.

The AGF lawyer, who said the request was not really an adjournment since the matter was already slated for the next day, said all their witnesses were ready to testify in the trial.

“We make this application in the interest of justice,” he said.

Alilu then served Fusika with the amended charge in the open court.

In her ruling, Justice Ojukwu, who described the application by the prosecution as frivolous, said the action was an attempt to delay the case.

She, however. awarded a fine of N200, 000 against the AGF which must be paid before the commencement of the trial in the next adjourned date.

“It is eiither you tell the court that you have paid tomorrow (Thursday) or you brandish the N200, 000 in the open court and give the defendants,” she held.

Ojukwu then adjourned the hearing till Feb. 13 for continuation.

It was reported that the two-count charge by the AGF 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 and punishable under the same section of the Act.

It was also reported that the court witnessed the attendance of Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka; former Chairman, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Chidi Odinkalu and Sen. Shehu Sani, among others.

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Although the hearing was scheduled to begin today, Tuesday, the absence of the presiding judge stalled the trial.

At about 9a.m. when our reporter visited Court 7 on the fourth floor of the building, the courtroom was empty aside from the court registrar and few workers doing their official assignment.

On the cause list attendance, Sowore’s case with suit number: FHC/ABJ/CR/956/2019 was on item nine according to the serial number.

An inquiry made by our correspondent on why the matter could not be heard today revealed that Justice Ijeoma was said to be sitting outside the court’s division.

Our correspondent reports that Sowore and Bakare were, on Dec. 24, 2019, released from the Department of State Services (DSS)’s custody by the Federal Government.

Prior to this development, Justice Inyang Ekwo had, on Dec. 17, 2019, fixed Dec. 23, 2019, to hear from the DSS and the Attorney General of the Federation (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 Ojukwu on Nov. 6, 2019.

However, the matter could not be heard and it was later reassigned to Justice Ahmed Mohammed.

And on Dec. 23, 2019, Justice Mohammed recused himself from the suit brought by Sowore before him.

Mohammed, who made his intention known to parties at the mention of the motion ex-parte with suit number: FHC/ABJ/CS/1409/19, said his decision was due to a publication of bribery allegation against him by Sahara Reporters owned by Mr Sowore.

The operatives of the DSS had rearrested Sowore shortly after a court proceeding on Dec. 6, 2019 barely 24 hours of releasing him and his co-defendant, Bakare, from custody.

Justice Ojukwu had fixed Feb. 11 as next adjourned date.

However, Abubakar Malami, SAN, the AGF and Minister of Justice, had also, on Dec. 13, 2019, announced his take over of the prosecution of Sowore in the charge of treasonable felony levied against him.

The development came as a result of the criticism their rearrest had generated.

Our correspondent reports that Sowore, alongside Olawale Bakare, were on Aug. 5, 2019, arrested and charged by the DSS with treasonable felony, money laundering, among others.

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The President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, who stated this in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, said: “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 Presidency notes some of the insinuations in the media about the arrest by the Department of State Services (DSS) of the agitator, Omoyele Sowore.

According to the presidential aide, 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.

He maintained that Sowore, who called for a revolution to overthrow the democratically elected government of Nigeria,” is a person of interest to the DSS.”

Shehu said: ”He did so on television, and from a privileged position as the owner of a widely read digital newspaper run from the U.S.

“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 destabilisation 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 Feb. 23 general elections.”

He further observed that 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.” According to Shehu, Nigeria is already dealing with an insurgency that has left millions of people displaced and desperate in the northeastern region of the country.

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

The presidential aide, therefore, opined that Sowore’s self-imposed predicament is a matter for the DSS, acting under its powers.

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Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, who gave the order, also awarded a N100, 000 fine against the DSS over its delay to serve the defence counsel with the additional proof of evidence in the ongoing trial despite the court’s order to the effect.

The judge, who was visibly angry over the development which had caused the court to adjourn the trial at the instance of the DSS, said the fine must be paid to the defendants before the next adjourned date.

Recall that Sowore, alongside Bakare, were charged by the DSS with treasonable felony, money laundering, among others.

Our correspondent recalls that Justice Ojukwu had, on Oct. 21, adjourned commencement of trial till Nov. 6 and Nov. 7, after varying the bail conditions granted Sowore and Bakare.

But on Nov, 6, the trial was stalled because Counsel to the defendants, Femi Falana, SAN, told the court that the DSS was yet to serve them with the statements of the witnesses and the video recordings in evidence.

Falana also said that the security outfit had made it difficult for them to have access to the defendants to prepare for the trial.

Justice Ojukwu had ordered the DSS to make available all the documents and the video recordings to Falana besides directing Sowore and Bakare’s release while adjourning till Dec. 5.

On Thursday, the DSS Counsel, Hassan Liman, SAN, who told the court that the agency was ready to commence the trial, hinted that the required documents and the video recordings had been served on the defence counsel.

However, Falana, who disagreed with Liman, said contrary to court’s order, the prosecution only served them with summary of the witnesses’ statements and seven video cassettes, including voluminous additional proof of evidence the previous day.

The lawyer added that the DSS knew the case was not ripe for trial.

The lawyer, who demanded for the full statements of the witnesses, said: “the prosecution counsel knows that the case is not ripe for trial.”

“In a bid to frustrate the commencement of this case this morning, the prosecution served us with these bundle of documents only yesterday.

“We were also served with seven video cassettes notwithstanding that time is not on our side, we contacted the Legal Department of DSS to facilitate the meeting of our clients in order to confront them with the documents served on us and play the video cassettes and watch them together with our clients but the request was not granted.

“Between the last adjourned date and this morning, I called the learned prosecution and sent a text message not less than 20 times to ask for these documents.

“The only time he responded was to send a message that he was in a meeting and I would call you back. But he never did,” he said.

Falana stressed that several efforts made by the defence counsel to get the documents as ordered since Nov. 6 proved unsuccessful.

“Therefore, we are asking for full statements of all the prosecution witnesses as ordered by this honourable court and for the court to grant us the opportunity to prepare the defence after the facilities must have been made available to us.

“My learned friend knows and knew that this case is not ripe for hearing,” he said.

He also expressed sadness over the refusal of the DSS to release Sowore and Bakare despite meeting the bail conditions.

On his part, Liman argued that the security agency had complied with Section 379(1a) which listed the requirements or the contents of an information of a charge required in a register.

The DSS lawyer explained that the section required a proof of evidence considering the list of the witnesses, summary of the statements of the witnesses and a copy of the statements of the defendants.

“My Lord, we submit that the prosecution has complied with the provision of the law, haven included in the additional proof of evidence, summary of the statements of the witnesses which they admit their receipt this morning.

“We urge your lordship to disregard that aspect of their application,” he said.

On the issue of telephone calls and text messages by Falana, the DSS lawyer said: “My Lord, I will not join issue with my colleague. What he has said is the greatest reason I will not join issue with him.

“However, on the application for adjournment to enable them to fully study the additional proof of evidence, in the interest of justice, we are not opposing that.”

Justice Ojukwu, who was unhappy over the security agency’s failure to obey the court’s order, leading to the “frivolous adjournment” of the trial, told Liman that: “I am going to apply Section 316 of ACJA against you and I will award cost against you.

“This matter was slated for trial today and tomorrow.

“Today makes it one month, and you do not deem it necessary to serve them statements of defence and you now filed additional evidence yesterday and served them yesterday.

“You have been given ample time to do this and the document is your office document and I ordered you to serve them and now you brought them yesterday?” she queried.

According to the judge, I am concerned about two things; the issue of document and access to their defendants.

The judge also asked why the DSS was yet to release the defendants despite signing their warrant of release.

“I thought I have signed a release warrant, I just want to understand that?” she queried Liman.

The DSS Lawyer, who stood up to explain, said: “On the issue of the order, it was served on the DSS, the DSS said the sureties should come and sign ….”

Cutting in, the judge asked: “Is there a parallel court here. Who is directing that? Is there another court elsewhere?”

On the inability of the defence counsel to get access to their clients, Liman said he was not aware of the complaint.

“I am not aware that Falana was refused assess because last week, he visited the defendants in the office. He personally visited on Nov. 19 between 14:30 hours and 15:00 hours,” he told the court.

When Justice Ojukwu asked Falana if he was satisfied with Liman’s explanation, he disagreed with the DSS counsel’s submission.

“My Lord, I visited on Nov. 19 when the client of my learned friend told the whole world that I have refused to come for their bail and that the first defendant might be knocked down on the highway if he was released.

“I drove to their office and I said here is my car, let me go home with my clients but they said no,” he narrated.

According to Falana, the visit of Nov. 19 could not have envisaged the bundle of documents served on me yesterday.

The lawyer, also said that on Nov. 20, he put a call through the prosecution counsel and when he failed to pick the call, he sent a text message.

Falana said: “If there is any lawyer in Nigeria that should ignore court’s order, it shouldn’t be my learned friend,” citing cases where Liman had faced the same treatment of disobedience to court’s orders.

The human right lawyer told the court that it was disheartening that with the court order and after meeting the bail conditions, the DSS failed to release his clients to him.

However, Liman argued that the security outfit had never refused to comply with the order of the court.

“So why have they not complied on this because I remember I signed the release warrant?” justice ojukwu asked.

She, therefore, ruled that the case would not go on until the DSS complied with the order of the court.

The judge, who said no one was above the law, said the law must always be the guiding principle.

“This matter cannot go on. There’s no way this matter will go on because first, the case was adjourned at your instance (DSS).

The judge, who awarded a N100, 000 fine against the DSS, ordered that the fine should be paid to the defendants before the next adjourned date.

Justice Ojukwu also ordered that Sowore and Bakare be released within 24 hours.

The judge then adjourned till Dec. 6 for trial continuation.

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Recall that the publisher of Sahara Reporters and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in the February 2019 elections was arrested in the early hours of Saturday by operatives of the Department of State Services in Lagos.

The protests held on Aug. 5 in some states of the federation, with security agencies arresting some protesters.

While Sowore was moved to Abuja on Sunday and currently being detained in the custody of the DSS, 26 other protesters have been arraigned in a Lagos court.

NLC General Secretary, Dr Peter Ozo-Eson in a statement on Wednesday said the right to peaceful protests, assembly and association is fully guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under sections 39 and 40.

According to him, the NLC view the violent attack on the peaceful protesters by security forces as a total violation of their fundamental rights as guaranteed by the constitution.

“Besides, peaceful protests against perceived anti-people government policies is one of the critical fundamental rights that expands the entrenchment and growth of democracy.

“Sowore and other protesters were not carrying arms against the state and we therefore demand their immediate release unconditionally.”

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