Activist publisher Omoyele Sowore shared on the following via Facebook today.
Perverting the course of justice doesn’t start and end only with framing persons opposed to tyranny with offences they didn’t commit, the worst stage is the subversion of due processes, gagging of press coverage and total disregard for open and transparent trial.
I have been there before!
Today, I was at the Federal High Court in Abuja to observe the continued trial of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB.
Upon arrival, I was met with belligerence by a the divisional crime officer of the Federal Secretariat Police station. I knew immediately they had planned something different this time, because this particular Nigeria Police Force officer and his DPO, Hassan Abdullahi, had dragged me off and briefly detained me during my last appearance in court for Kanu’s trial on July 26th 2021.
He asked that I wait if he could verify and let me into the courtroom and where I had a variety of legal businesses to attend to, but while waiting and in the full glare of the mediamen present, a group of thugs arrived driven through the security cordon around the court and began assaulting me, at first verbally and later physically.
The DSS officers who were right in front of me then tried to push me back into their hands as they became more aggressive!
It took the courageous efforts of mediamen and friends to ward off the attacks. These courageous journalists also followed up in protest by ensuring police tried to arrest the pro-Buhari “hoodlums” and the vehicle that brought them to the venue. After the attack, I remained on the scene while still denied access to the court premises until Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was driven out in frenzy by his DSS captors to their office.
Later on, I went to meet his lawyers and supporters before returning to my base.
The task at hand is ginormous, as a result there won’t be time to dull or sulk.
There is now a breakdown of all modicum of respect for our lives and safety even at official public buildings rigged with national security.
If when hoodlums could attack or even try to abduct a citizen with the aid of security agents, you need not be told there is nothing left. However, I assure you there is plenty of collective strength we can always draw from if we’re determined and united to defeat these monsters. They’re clearly running out of time!
