Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja has issued a stern warning, threatening to strike out the four-year-long alleged treasonable felony case brought by the Federal Government against pro-democracy activist and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore.
News About Nigeria reports that the judge expressed dissatisfaction with the conduct of the Federal Government’s prosecution team during the court proceedings on Wednesday.
The inability of one of the government’s counsels, Barrister Maryam Okorie, to articulate clear arguments in court prompted Justice Nwite’s warning.
The case stems from the government’s accusation against Sowore, who is facing charges of treason following his call for a protest known as #RevolutionNow, scheduled for August 5, 2019.
Sowore was reportedly abducted at midnight on August 3, 2019, and detained for five months by the Department of State Services.
During Wednesday’s trial, Barrister Okorie made a false claim about the reason for transferring Sowore’s case to Justice Nwite.
She said that the case was initially handled by a retired Justice Anwalu Chikere and was started de novo because Chikere had retired.
Okorie also admitted in court that she was unaware if the second defendant, Olawale Bakare, had been served with the hearing notice.
In response, counsel to Sowore, Marshall Abubakar, accused the prosecution team of attempting to frustrate his client by failing to serve the second defendant with the hearing notice.
Abubakar revealed that he had written a letter to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, requesting the charge be severed so that Sowore could take his plea and stand trial alone.
“My lord, this is the fifth year since this charge was filed, the defendant has been denied access to his family since then because he has not been allowed to travel outside the country where his family lives.
“You cannot continually and perpetually hold the man under suspicion that he committed a crime, and so we will apply that this case be struck out until the prosecution is ready to prosecute it,” Abubakar argued.
The prosecuting counsel, Okorie, informed the court that they were awaiting the minister’s response to their letter before deciding on the next course of action.
Justice Nwite, dissatisfied with the proceedings, warned that he would strike out the matter on the next adjourned date, December 5, 2023, if the prosecution team fails to comply with the court’s order to serve the second defendant.
He emphasised that compliance with the order to serve the second defendant was essential, and failure to do so would result in the case being struck out.
The judge adjourned the matter until December 5, 2023.
