The Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BoSAN) has warned that unless
the truth is unraveled about the invasion of Justice Ojukwu courtroom,
Nigeria would lose respect and become an object of ridicule among the
comity of nations.
The body gave the warning in a speech on Thursday, at a special
valedictory court session to mark the retirement of Justice Kumai
Aka’ahs from the Supreme Court, insisting that only a Judicial
Commission of Enquiry set up by President Muhammadu Buhari can reveal
the real identities of the operatives of Department of Secret Service
(DSS) who invaded a courtroom of the federal high court.
Blueprint reports that Courtroom number 7, presided over by Justice
Ojukwu where the convener of #RevolutionNow protest, Sowore and Bakare
was standing trial, was allegedly invaded by the DSS operatives.
Although, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of
Justice, Abubakar Malami SAN, recently disclosed that the federal
government has put machinery in place to unravel the operatives behind
the invasion, lead counsel to Sowore, Femi Falana maintained that
evidence abound as to claims that the DSS actually carried out the
act.
Delivering the body’s speech, Chief Onomigbo Okpoko SAN, said that the
incident with similar ones in the last three years points to the level
of disregard to the rule of law and the judiciary.
“The Nigerian Bar Association has come up with a statement from the
bar condemning the action. As members of the Nigerian Bar Association,
the Body of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, associates itself with the
condemnation of the show of shame.
“It will however goes one step further to suggest that this matter
should not be swept under the expanding carpet of deceit in Nigeria.
“The pertinent question is who was responsible for the action in the
courtroom? This is a task that the government must carry out to
ascertain the truth,” he said.
While stating that the Nigeria police being a sister organisation
cannot investigate the matter thoroughly, he said even the Nigerian
Army, Nigerian Customs Service and other paramilitary forces in the
country cannot also do a thorough job.
Okpoko added that even the National Assembly is not sufficiently
equipped to investigate the matter.
The way out is an Independent Commission of Enquiry under the law.
This can be achieved. The Body of Senior Advocates hereby demands that
Mr. President considers without delay, the setting up of a Judicial
Commission of Enquiry to hear publicly and determine the perpetrators
of the acts, their sponsors and their objectives.
Unless, this is done, Nigerians are unlikely to be convinced by any
other explanations that the act was not the work of the DSS.
