City Updates

Lawyer Faults DSS, Says Court did not Order Sowore should be Released to Any Person

Pat Stevens/

A member of the defence team of Omoyele Sowore, the convener of the #RevolutionNow movement, Inibehe Effiong, has faulted the reason given by the Department of State Services (DSS) for the continued detention of the pro-democracy activist.

The DSS had claimed in a statement yesterday that it was prepared to comply with the court order that Sowore should be released on bail but no one had turned up to receive him.

Effiong, who is also the National Legal Adviser of the African Action Congress, described the statement by the DSS as “false and contemptuous”.

In a reaction which he tweeted via his handle, @InibeheEffiong, he argued that the court did not direct the DSS to release Sowore to someone, but simply said that he should be released.

He added that he was at the DSS head office on Thursday but the agency refused to release Sowore and his co-defendant, Olawale Bakare, aka Mandate, to him.

His tweets read: “The statement by the DSS is false and contemptuous. The court did not direct the DSS to release Sowore to someone. The Order says he should be released, period! I was at DSS facility in Abuja yesterday where I met with DSS lawyers, Sowore and Bakare. They refused to release them.

“Nigeria has been turned into a banana republic by this regime. What “processes” is the DSS talking about? Are they sitting on appeal over the order of the Federal High Court? Are they exercising supervisory jurisdiction over Hon. Justice Ojukwu?

“What type of country is this? The DSS cannot be acting as if they are above the law. This tyranny has to stop. The detention of Sowore and Bakare is in defiance of the court. Democracy is useless where the rule of law is crushed.

“Rather than play the ostrich, the Bichi-led DSS should obey the subsisting order of the Federal High Court by releasing Sowore and Bakare forthwith.”

0
Editor

Recent Posts

Federal Reserve Chair, Powell, Says He’ll Refuse to Step Down if Trump Asks

Femi Ashekun/ Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, has declared that he wouldn’t resign if President-elect…

6 hours ago

FG Responds to Malaysia’s Plan to Phase Out CNG, Clarifies its Position on Adoption

Segun Atanda/ The Nigerian government has responded to Malaysia's recent announcement to phase out compressed…

12 hours ago

Lagos Police Arrest Dog Owner After Fatal Attack on Security Guard in Lekki

Matilda Omonaiye/ The police in Lagos have arrested Salisu Mustapha, the owner of three dogs…

18 hours ago

Why America Chose Donald Trump Again: A Vote for Defiance and Distrust

Dipo Kehinde/ As the news broke, many around the world struggled to understand how a…

2 days ago

Donald Trump Elected US President in Historic Comeback

Editor/ Donald Trump has defeated Kamala Harris in the US presidential election, marking a surprising…

2 days ago

Chief of Army Staff, Lagbaja, Dies at 56

Pat Stevens/ Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Taoreed Lagbaja, is dead. He reportedly died…

2 days ago