A human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has accused the Federal Government
of disobeying valid court orders in Nigeria while it complies with
orders from Britain.
Granting a stay of execution for a $9.6 billion judgement awarded
against Nigeria in favour of Process & Industrial Development (P&ID)
Limited, Christopher Butcher, judge of a commercial court in London,
had ordered that Nigeria deposit $200 million.
On Friday, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar
Malami, said a $200 million bond deposit has been made following the
approval by President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a letter to Malami on Sunday, Falana said the FG did not give any
precondition before obeying the court of its “former colonial master”
as it does at home.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) asked the FG to comply with court
orders and release convener of the #RevolutionNow movement, Omoyele
Sowore.
“It is however disturbing to note notwithstanding such deference to
the courts of its former colonial master the federal government has
continued to disobey the valid and subsisting orders of Nigerian
courts and the court of justice of the Economic Court of West African
States including orders for the release of political detainees and
criminal suspects from unlawful custody,” Falana said.
“For instance, the State Security Service has continued to detain our
clients, Messrs Omoyele Sowore and Olawale Bakare, in defiance of the
order of the federal high court which has admitted them to bail
pending trial.
“In treating the court order with provocative contempt the State
Security Service has insisted on approving the sureties of our clients
after they have been verified by the federal high court. From the
information at our disposal, there is no precedent whatsoever for the
illegal demand.
“Instead of purging the security agency of such contempt of the
federal high court, the Prosecutor, Dr. Hassan Liman SAN, engaged by
your good self to prosecute our clients, has curiously applied to the
trial court to have them transferred to a correctional centre and
detained indefinitely for having the temerity to question the illegal
directive to produce their sureties.”
Sowore was arrested in August with the DSS saying he threatened public
peace and safety with his planned #RevolutionNow protest.
