#RevolutionNow: Court Declines Sowore’s Request On DSS Detention

BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – Attempts by the detained Convener of #RevolutionNow protests, Mr Omoyele Sowore, to challenge and squash his continued detention by the Department of State Security (DSS) suffered a setback at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday.

Justice Nkeonye Evelyn Maha, who is sitting as the Court’s vacation judge, declined to hear Sowore’s request, citing lack of jurisdiction to handle the motion.

When the case came up before her, Justice Maha said she does not have the powers to review the decision made by his colleague, noting that doing so will amount to sitting on an appeal over a decision passed by a Court of coordinate jurisdiction.

She also rejected an oral application for bail, made later by Sowore’s lead Counsel, Femi Falana (SAN).

According to her, having ruled on the matter before Falana’s oral application, she was functus officio (could no longer deal with the issue).

Declining all applications by Counsel to Sowore, Mr Falana, the judge therefore urged both parties to return to Justice Taiwo Taiwo’s Court which earlier granted the detention order.

On August 8, 2019, Justice Taiwo, who concluded his vacation sitting last week, had granted the DSS permission to detain Sowore for 45 days in the first instance, following claims that he was involved in acts of terrorism and had plotted to topple the government. This is an allegation that Sowore has vehemently denied.

However, rather than wait for the 45 days granted the DSS to expire, Sowore returned to the court, via a motion filed on August 9, 2019, demanding, among others, that the Court vacates the order for its deletion, as it was made ex-parte

Interestingly, the DSS had also on August 20, challenged the court order, allowing it to detain Sowore for only 45 days as  against its initial request of 90 days pending investigation.