It is uncharacteristic of a democratically elected government to fail to recognise the independence of the three arms of government.
The Executive Branch of Government should be called to order and to respect the independence of the judiciary.
Every suspect is assumed innocent until proven guilty. The convener of #RevolutionNowNigeria, Omoyele Sowore, was granted bail by a competent court and the Executive Branch of the Government, through the Department of State Service (DSS), refused to honour such court judgement.
Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, in an interview with BBC Correspondent, Gimba Kakanda, defended the Federal Government over detention and charges of treasonable felony against a journalist, and an activist, Omoyele Sowore, for ‘insulting’ the President (Muhammadu Buhari).
According to him, “as far as I’m concerned, treason is treason. As far as there is a case for treason, we have every obligation to present the matter before the court. We operate a system of government that recognises the independent of the judiciary through three arms of government. So what we have done is to present our case before the judiciary which will determine the case. Not that we have taken the law into our own hands by adjudging him guilty. But by presenting him before the judicial process so that he can be accorded the opportunity to present a counter-case before the court……”
Kakanda asked: “Would you agree that cases like these make government’s human right records increasingly under scrutiny and being criticized. Sowore is not the only one, the treatment of Shia population in the country for instance, Dadiyata Abubakar Idris, (a journalist) who is in detention for criticizing the government, there is also a case of another journalist, Agba Jalingo, who has been in detention for over 30 days, what’s the government scared of?
Malami argued that “provided you’re calling for a change of government through means other than means that are constitutionally recognised, you are entitled to be arraigned and put in your defense. If the court recognises otherwise, the government automatically recognises it.”
But this was not so when the same court granted Sowore bail last week and having satisfied his bail condition, the DSS refused to free him but to rearraign him on Monday, same treatment given to El-Zakzaky and Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd).
Now, my fellow journalists, it is time to unite and fight the imminent anarchy that is confronting us. Remember the case of Jacob Dickson, Luka Biniyat, Segun Onibiyo, Agba Jalingo, Dimgba Igwe, several unknown journalists that have been killed for doing their job and transparency and accountability in government. Sowore called for a similar revolution Buhari and Co. called for in 2011 without being charged for treasonable felony.
It is Omoyele Sowore today, who is next tomorrow?
I will end by saying the quotes of Martin Niemoller (1892-1984):
Firstly they came for the Socialists, and I didn’t speak out because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and i did not speak out because i was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because i was not a Jew.
Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.
Media owners, journalists, activists, trade unionists and Nigerians at large, speak out against the evil of this government so that the future of Nigeria will be guaranteed.
