Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday threatened to commit the lead defence counsel representing activist and politician Omoyele Sowore to prison for contempt over what he described as rude conduct during proceedings.
The judge ordered Sowore’s lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, to step forward and kneel in open court after raising his voice while addressing the court. The directive came during a tense exchange in the courtroom.
However, several lawyers present intervened and appealed to the court to forgive their colleague before the situation escalated further.
Sowore is currently being prosecuted by the Department of State Services over allegations that he made false claims against Bola Ahmed Tinubu by describing him as “a criminal” in a post published on his social media platforms, including X and Facebook.
Tension began after Abubakar completed the cross-examination of the prosecution’s only witness. Following the testimony, the prosecuting counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde, announced that the prosecution had closed its case and requested the court to call on the defence to open its case.
When the judge asked the defence when it intended to begin presenting its case, Abubakar informed the court that the defendant planned to file a no-case submission and suggested that the matter be adjourned to a date in July.
The prosecution objected to the request, arguing that it was part of a strategy by the defence to delay the proceedings. Kehinde urged the court to order an accelerated hearing and suggested that the matter be heard daily.
Justice Umar noted that while the prosecution had conducted its case quickly, the defence spent four days cross-examining the sole prosecution witness.
The judge said that hearing the case daily would not be practical but directed both parties to return to court on April 13 for the adoption of their final written addresses regarding the proposed no-case submission.
The situation worsened when Sowore began addressing the judge from the witness box about how the scheduled date might affect his political party’s upcoming primaries. At the same time, his lawyer also began speaking loudly in court, explaining that his client was determined to challenge President Tinubu politically.
“This court belongs to all of us. This court is not for some people alone. It belongs to all of us,” Abubakar said while raising his voice.
Despite repeated attempts by the judge to ask him to lower his voice, the lawyer continued speaking loudly.
Justice Umar then warned him sternly, saying, “If you shout in this court again, I will commit you for contempt. In fact, come here! Come and kneel down here!” while pointing to a spot in front of the courtroom.
As the tension rose, other lawyers present in the courtroom quickly stood up and appealed to the judge to forgive Abubakar. The appeal was led by Kehinde, who was the only Senior Advocate of Nigeria present at the time.
While the lawyers were still pleading for leniency, the judge announced that the matter had been adjourned until April 13 for adoption of written addresses and subsequently rose for the day.
Earlier during the session, Kehinde had told the court that Sowore was in possession of a recording device while seated in the dock and requested that the court order the device to be taken from him.
Sowore denied having any recording device, explaining that the only items in his possession were his eyeglasses, a power bank and his mobile phone.
Justice Umar reminded the defendant that the court had earlier directed that he should not bring any electronic gadgets into the dock.
The judge then instructed him to hand over the items to his lawyers. Sowore complied and passed the items to a court official, who subsequently transferred them to his legal representative.
When the proceedings began earlier in the day, Abubakar had informed the court that he only became aware of the hearing shortly before the session began. He explained that he had appeared in another court for a separate matter and did not come to court with the case file.
The lawyer therefore requested that the case be stood down until 12:30 p.m. so he could retrieve the file from his office.
Although the prosecution opposed the request and argued that it was another attempt to delay the proceedings, Justice Umar granted the application for a temporary stand down.
When the court reconvened at about 1 p.m., Abubakar proceeded to cross-examine the prosecution’s sole witness, DSS operative Cyril Nosike, for approximately two hours.
During the cross-examination, the defence counsel also presented copies of several newspaper publications, some of which were given to the witness to read while answering questions in court.
What you should know
Omoyele Sowore is a Nigerian activist, publisher and politician known for his criticism of government authorities and his involvement in protests and political movements.
He is the founder of Sahara Reporters and has contested in Nigeria’s presidential elections. The ongoing case centres on allegations by the DSS that a social media post he made about President Bola Tinubu was defamatory and false.
The proceedings are part of a broader legal battle involving free speech, political criticism and the use of social media in Nigeria’s political landscape.
