Lagos Lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana who is counsel for the detained convener of #RevolutionNow Protest, Mr. Omoyele Sowore has asked the attorney general and minister of justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami to withdraw pending criminal charges against his Sowore and his co-accused, Mr. Olawale Bakare.
It would be recalled that Malami had directed the Department of State Services to hands off the prosecution of the two men and forward the case files to his office.
The directive followed the invasion of the Federal High Court, Abuja by the DSS operatives to re-arrest Sowore who, together with Bakare is tried for alleged treasonable felony.
Falana who was reacting to Malami’s takeover of the case said in a statement that that there was no evidence to get the ‘RevolutonNow’ protests conveners convicted.
He also noted that despite the directive Malami’s directive, the DSS was still bent on fishing for evidence to file fresh charges against his clients.
“Convinced that the pending case would collapse like a pack of cards, the SSS is currently fishing for evidence to nail Sowore. In spite of the directive of the AGF to hand over the case, the SSS subjected Sowore to a four-hour interrogation Friday (December 12, 2019).
“The entire interrogation pertained to Sowore’s alleged links with the proscribed Boko Haram sect, IPOB, and IMN, which he vehemently denied. At Sowore’s instance, a member of the legal defence team, Mr. Abubakar Marshal, witnessed the marathon interrogation. The plan is to charge Sowore with terrorism as a follow-up to the unsubstantiated allegations of a presidential media aide.
“In the light of the foregoing, we urge the AGF to file a nolle prosequi motion to end the macabre dance which has exposed the country to avoidable embarrassment.”
He said the action so far taken by the attorney general in the prosecution of Sowore and his co-defendant was not a takeover “because it was the AGF that filed the case of September 20, 2019 and farmed it out to Dr. Hassan Liman.
“But in view of the violent invasion of the court by the armed operatives of the SSS the AGF has decided to sack the external prosecution team and have the case prosecuted by the Department of Public Prosecution.”
