AS night fell on Tuesday, December 24, 2019, news came that two of Nigeria’s prisoners of conscience: retired Col. Sambo Dasuki and SaharaReporters publisher, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, had been set free from detention by the Federal Government.
Dasuki, who was in detention for four years is being tried for alleged illegal possession of arms and money laundering while Sowore was detained on August 3, 2019 for launching his #Revolution Now campaign. They were kept in detention by the security agencies in spite of series of court orders for them to be freed on bail.
The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, claimed that their release “revolved around our commitment to the rule of law, obedience to court orders and compassionate grounds”.
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However, critics see the Federal Government’s action as a panic measure as a result of mounting internal and external pressures. US Senator Bob Menendez, had warned of “consequences” when Sowore was rearrested after release.
A groundswell of opposition to the FG’s flagrant disobedience of court orders and the desecration of the courts by security operatives was mounted by civil society groups.
The activists calling for the release of detainees already granted bail were attacked by armed hoodlums supporting the Federal Government and the ruling party a few days before the sudden release of Dasuki and Sowore.
Whether the Federal Government voluntarily released Dasuki and Sowore (a claim which is not backed by the facts of the matter) or were forced to do so, we are unable to commend them for doing so because they were wrong in the first place to disobey the courts and violate the sanctity of the temple of justice in a democracy.
Under our democracy, we are all bound to respect the constitution, the due processes and institutions it created to govern our affairs.
The judiciary is the final arbiter in our democratic conducts. Whatever it says is final and binding on everyone, no matter how highly placed or powerful. Anything less than that is self-help, jungle justice and an invitation to anarchy.
We had cautioned the President Muhammadu Buhari government to jettison the idea that it would consider national security as superior to the rule of law.
It is the constitution and the courts that have the power to dictate the ways by which we can protect the nation’s interests and its security without violating the inalienable rights of the citizenry.
We can never commend any arm of government that backtracks after riding roughshod over our democratic institutions and tenets unless it openly commits to mending its ways.
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The commitment of Nigerians to democracy and constitutional rule are settled matters. Nobody going against this will have it easy.
We call for the release of the rest of our prisoners of conscience as ordered by the courts.
The post At last, freedom for Dasuki, Sowore appeared first on Vanguard News.
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