Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo state, has condemned the manner in which operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) stormed the court to rearrest Omoyele Sowore on Friday.
The DSS rearrested Sowore, convener of RevolutionNow Movement, at the federal high court in Abuja less than 24 hours after he was released following a detention that lasted 124 days.
The presidency had defended this action, saying Sowore is a person of interest to the secret police.
But Akeredolu, who is governor of Sowore’s home state of Ondo, said with the way things went in court, lawyers could be arrested during court sessions.
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The former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) spoke at an NBA programme in Ibadan, Oyo state capital.
“It should be an anathema to the bar that inaction has come upon us. The bar needs to talk on quite a number of things,” he said.
“We must be terror against demagogues. It is when your voice of the bar is heard consistently that it will earn respect. Will people go and desecrate our courtrooms and we keep quiet? The bar must condemn it. There is no explanation anybody can give you.
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“Somebody calls it drama. Drama! How? What we saw was not drama, you must stand up to condemn the SSS for what they did in Abuja.
“Our spirit must remain indomitable. Forget about where we are today because enough of us made efforts to say what you have done is wrong and only way out was apology almost immediately but what people believe is different.
“If we are not careful, the day will come that people will walk into a judge’s sitting and arrest people with their wig and gown.”
The governor asked lawyers to be courageous and prosecute their conviction without fear.
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NBA had on Saturday called for the immediate suspension of Yusuf Bichi, director-general of the DSS.
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