A civil rights advocacy group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, yesterday condemned the use of lethal weapons by the Department of State Services, DSS, to disperse activists who had gathered on the premises of the secret police to demand the release of Omoyele Sowore, convener of RevolutionNow Movement and Olawale Bakare.
HURIWA urged the European Union, EU, and the United States, US, government to impose sanctions on the government of President Muhammadu Buhari for ‘serially’ refusing to obey court orders.
Sowore is currently held in custody of the secret police against court order.
Last Wednesday, a Federal High Court in Abuja, ordered the release of Sowore alongside Olawale Adebayo.
The DSS was yet to comply with the order and claimed that no surety had come to take Sowore on bail.
However, HURIWA condemned Sowore’s continued detention which it described as “abominable and unconstitutional failure.”
The right group stated this in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director, Zainab Yusuf.
The statement reads: “HURIWA is hereby urging the European Union and the United States government to impose sanctions on the government of President Muhammadu Buhari which has become autocratic and has serially disrespected binding decisions of the competent courts of law which is provided for in Section 6 of the Constitution.”
HURIWA specifically affirmed that the relevant constitutional provisions confer the judicial powers of Nigeria on the courts as stated unambiguously in Section 6 thus:
“ (1) The judicial powers of the Federation shall be vested in the courts to which this section relates, being courts established for the Federation.
“(2) The judicial powers of a State shall be vested in the courts to which this section relates, being courts established, subject as provided by this Constitution, for a State.
“(3) The courts to which this section relates, established by this Constitution for the Federation and for the States, specified in subsection
“(5) (a) to (1) of this section, shall be the only superior courts of record in Nigeria; and save as otherwise prescribed by the National Assembly or by the House of Assembly of a State, each court shall have all the powers of a superior court of record. (4) Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section shall be construed as precluding:- (a) the National Assembly or any House of Assembly from establishing courts, other than those to which this section relates, with subordinate jurisdiction to that of a High Court; (b) the National Assembly or any House of Assembly, which does not require it, from abolishing any court which it has power to establish or which it has brought into being. (5) This section relates to:- (a) the Supreme Court of Nigeria; (b) the Court of Appeal; (c) the Federal High Court; (d) the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; (e) a High Court of a State (f) the Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; (g) a Sharia Court of Appeal of a State; (h) the Customary Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; (i) a Customary Court of Appeal of a State; (j) such other courts as may be authorized by law to exercise jurisdiction on matters with respect to which the National Assembly may make laws; and (k) such other court as may be authorized by law to exercise jurisdiction at first instance or on appeal on matters with respect to which a House of Assembly may make laws.
“(6) The judicial powers vested in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section – (a) shall extend, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this constitution, to all inherent powers and sanctions of a court of law (b) shall extend, to all matters between persons, or between government or authority and to any persons in Nigeria, and to all actions and proceedings relating thereto, for the determination of any question as to the civil rights and obligations of that person; (c) shall not except as otherwise provided by this Constitution, extend to any issue or question as to whether any act of omission by any authority or person or as to whether any law or any judicial decision is in conformity with the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy set out in Chapter II of this Constitution; (d) shall not, as from the date when this section comes into force, extend to any action or proceedings relating to any existing law made on or after 15th January, 1966 for determining any issue or question as to the competence of any authority or person to make any such law.”