Our attention has been drawn to various reports in the print, online and social media suggesting that Mr. Omoyele Sowore, a Nigerian citizen and the Founder and Publisher of the popular and globally celebrated online news media SaharaReporters domiciled in New York City, United States of America (USA) was arrested and is being investigated by the Nigeria Police Force on allegations bothering on ‘’criminal defamation’’ and ‘’blackmail’’.
These misleading
reports are variously credited to the trio of Mr. Lekan Fatodu; the
Commissioner of Police Lagos State, CP. Fatai Owoseni and the Lagos State
Police Public Relations Officer, SP. Dolapo Badmos.
While we do not wish to
respond to every insinuation connected with the subject under consideration, we
are impelled to issue this press release to set the records straight for the
sake of credulous and unsuspecting members of the public who may be misled by
the outright falsehood and half-truths being fed the public by the trio.
The verifiable facts
and truth of the matter are as follows:
On Wednesday the 11th
day of January, 2017 while driving in company of two of his associates through
the Government Reserved Area (GRA) in Ikeja, Lagos State, Mr. Sowore was
waylaid and gruesomely attacked by one Mr. Lekan Fatodu and his accomplice
simply identified as Mr. ‘Andre’. The said assailants assaulted Sowore and made
attempts on his life before they were restrained and overpowered by concerned
members of the public.
Following the
intervention of concerned members of the public, the assailants fled from the
scene only to return soon afterwards in company of a team of armed Policemen
from the Area ‘’F’’ Police Station, Ikeja on the pretext that Sowore had
committed ‘’traffic offence’’ and should be arrested and taken to the nearest
Police Station. The Police later claimed that they received a distressed call
from a member of the public.
The Policemen first
took Sowore and his associates to the Area ‘’F’’ Police Station in Ikeja after
which he was taken before the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai
Owoseni at the State Police Command, Ikeja. In what smacks of unholy alliance
between the assailants and the Policemen from Area ‘’F’’, Fatodu continued to
assault and molest Sowore right inside the Police van while he was being
conveyed to the State Police Command without any resistance from the Policemen.
Shockingly, when Sowore
drew the CP’s attention to the assault on his person and the attempt on his
life by Fatodu and his accomplice, he was ignored and treated with scorn by the
CP. He was subsequently transferred to the State Criminal Investigation
Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba, Lagos State where he also reported the assault
on his person and the attempt on his life by Fatodu and his accomplice.
Sowore was released
unconditionally from the SCID Panti late in the night of Wednesday the 11th
day of January, 2017 and asked to report the following day by 2:00 PM. On his
part, the assailant and his accomplice were only released after signing a Bail
Bond.
Before they were
released on Wednesday night, the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the
SCID, Panti, DCP. Bolaji Salami invited the Investigating Police Officer (IPO.)
in charge of the matter and asked him openly the offence that he was
investigating as it concerns Sowore, Fatodu and his accomplice. The IPO in the
presence of and to the hearing of the following persons: Sowore and his Counsel
(Mr. Inibehe Effiong, Esq.); Fatodu and his accomplice; Comrade Olanrewaju
Suraju; and the Assistant Commissioner of Police SCID, Panti ACP Frank Mba,
declared that he was investigating a case of ‘’TWO FIGHTING’’.
When Sowore reported at
the SCID, Panti on Thursday the 12th day of January, 2017 by 2:00 PM
as requested, the DCP and the ACP in charge of the SCID, Panti rather than
investigating the assault and attempt made on the life of Sowore, or the
alleged offence of ‘’two fighting’’ earlier alluded to by the IPO, told him in
unmistaken terms to forego the case and accept an amicable settlement or
resolution with Fatodu. A senior lawyer and activist, Dr. Tunji Abayomi who was
among the numerous persons present during the meeting at the DCP’s office where
the peaceful settlement was discussed offered to interface between the parties
and report back to the DCP on Tuesday the 17th day of January, 2017.
Throughout his stay at
the Area ‘’F’’ Police Station and the SCID, Panti Sowore was NEVER at any time
informed that he was being investigated for alleged ‘’criminal defamation’’ or
‘’blackmail’’ neither was he questioned or confronted with evidence in respect
of the malicious, unfounded and spurious allegations. Though the Lagos CP had
brandished a piece of paper which he claimed contained a petition supposedly
written by Fatodu against Sowore for ‘’criminal defamation’’, Sowore was
neither given, shown nor allowed to peruse or respond to the alleged petition
and the contents thereof despite asking for same. The CP was actually incensed
by Sowore’s demand to be given the petition and allowed to respond. For daring
to exercise his fundamental rights, the CP explosively asked Sowore, inter alia: ‘’who do you think you are’’?
Without any plausible
or prior investigation, the Lagos CP held a press conference where he dismissed
the assault and attempt made on the life of Sowore by Fatodu and his accompice
as ‘’false alarm’’. This is not surprising given the unfriendly, rude and
aggressive manner the CP treated Sowore when he was brought before him on
Wednesday 11th January, 2017.
Given the biased and
premeditated comments made by the Lagos CP during his press conference and the
further incendiary remarks made by Fatodu, we are indicating to the Nigerian public our total
rejection of the so-called mediation, it was a ruse packaged by the CP to fool
the public. We believe in the primacy of justice and the rule
of law over ‘peace of the graveyard’.
Unknown to the Lagos
State Police Command and Fatodu, the so-called offence of ‘’criminal
defamation’’ no longer exist in Lagos State. Just for clarity, the existing
penal legislation in Lagos State is the Criminal Code Law of Lagos State 2011
which came into force on the 8th day of August 2011. The Police may
have wrongly relied on the provisions of a repealed law, specifically Chapter
33 of the Criminal Code Law, Chapter C17, Vol. 2, Laws of Lagos State of
Nigeria, 2003 (now repealed by Section 417 of the Criminal Code Law of
Lagos State 2011) under which the said offence was created. However,
the offence was abrogated and expunged by the Lagos State House of Assembly
under the current law (The Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011)
as it cannot be found in any of the 418 Sections of the Criminal Law of Lagos
State 2011.
We wish to remind the
Nigeria Police Force of the trite principle of our criminal jurisprudence that
a person can only be punished for an act or omission that is expressly defined
to be an offence under a written law as at the time the act or omission took
place. The maxim is nulla poena sine lege (No punishment except in accordance with
the law). We reference Section 36 (8) & (12) of the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and
the celebrated decision of the Supreme Court in Aoko v. Fagbemi (1961) All NLR
400.
In conclusion, we are
particularly pained that the very person who assaulted and attempted to kill
Sowore is now doling out tissues of lies and half-truths to the public despite
the questionable peace moves initiated by the Police for his benefit. The fact
that Fatodu disingenuously went to the press after Thursday’s meeting at the
SCID, Panti and infamously accused Sowore of ‘’criminal defamation’’,
‘’blackmail’’ and boasted of having in his possession either non-existent or
fabricated evidence is to say the least preposterous, defamatory, irresponsible
and utterly ludicrous.
We know, and Fatodu
also knows that he is not acting alone. The treacherous attempts by Fatodu to
dishonestly denigrate Sowore, his long time benefactor for immediate and
insatiable gains is most unfortunate. Sowore who has resisted compromising
offers from different governments at all levels and politically exposed persons
in Nigeria right from his days as a fearless student leader cannot condescend
to the level of seeking pecuniary benefits from the very person he has assisted
financially and otherwise for several years.
Those who think that
they can use Fatodu or any other mischievous element to cow or blackmail Sowore
and SaharaReporters into submission should wake-up from their self-induced
slumber because it is easier for the camel to pass through the needle than for
Sowore or SaharaReporters to be silenced.
Thank you.
Signed:
INIBEHE EFFIONG, ESQ.
Solicitor and
Counsel to Omoyele Sowore.
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