Falana tackles police over ‘illegal’ arrest of lawyer who stood as surety for Sowore

Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, says the arrest of Abubakar Marshall over his failure to produce his client, Omoyele Sowore, is illegal.

Marshall stood as a surety for Sowore who was arrested on February 24, following a petition by Ned Nwoko, a businessman, on allegations of defamation.

Josephine Adeh, FCT police spokesman, who confirmed Marshall’s arrest on Friday, said he has been charged to court.

Reacting in a statement on Sunday, Falana said the lawyer’s arrest cannot be justified.

“In spite of the indiscretion of Abubakar Marshall to stand surety for Mr. Sowore, his arrest, detention and prosecution by the federal capital territory police command cannot be justified under the law on two solid grounds,” he said.

“It is on record that the high court of the federal capital territory has prohibited the area courts in the FCT from hearing and determining criminal cases.

“It is trite law that a surety cannot be arrested, detained and charged with any criminal offence before any court in Nigeria on the ground that a suspect has jumped bail or failed to report for investigation or arraignment.

“The penalty is that the surety is legally obligated to pay the sum stated in the recognizance or bail bond.

“Before the bail bond can be forfeited, the surety is entitled to show a cause or justify before a court why it should not be forfeited.

“However, if the surety fails to pay the sum stipulated in the bond, the court shall proceed to recover it from the surety like a fine under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.

“In view of the several decisions of Nigerian courts on the contractual nature of suretyship, Abubakar Marshall has not committed any offence whatsoever.

“The authorities of the FCT police command are advised to withdraw the criminal charge erroneously filed before the upper area court in Kubwa.”