Femi Falana, a senior advocate of
Nigeria (SAN), says legal measures will be taken against the Department of
State Services (DSS) over its refusal to release Omoyele Sowore, convener of
the #RevolutionNow Movement.
A federal high court in Abuja had
on Wednesday oordered the release of Sowore alongside Olawale Adebayo better
known as “Mandate”, but the DSS did not comply with the order.
In a statement on Thursday,
Falana said this is the second time the DSS would ignore court order to release
Sowore.
“On 8th August 2019, the Honourable Justice Taiwo Taiwo granted
the application of the State Security Service to detain Mr. Omoyele Sowore for
45 days,” he said.
“Upon the expiration of the
45-day detention period the court granted Mr. Sowore bail on September 24,
2019. He met the bail conditions but the
State Security Service refused to release him from custody.
“Mr. Sowore and Mandate Bakare
were subsequently charged with treasonable felony, cyber stalking and money
laundering on September 30, 2019. The trial judge, the Honourable Justice
Ijeoma Ojukwu admitted the defendants to bail under very stringent conditions.
Upon meeting the bail conditions Justice Ojukwu directed the State Security
Service to release the defendants from detention.
“But in utter contempt of the
orders of Justice Ojukwu the State Security Service has refused to release
Messrs Sowore and Bakare from custody.
“Since the State Security Service
is not above the law of the land we shall embark on appropriate legal measures
to ensure compliance with the court orders.”
Peter Afunanya, DSS spokesman,
did not respond to a message seeking reaction to the matter.
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