Legal counsel to activist Omoyele Sowore, Marshall Abubakar, has criticised the Inspector General of Police (IGP) over the 16-count charge filed against his client, describing it as a blatant abuse of prosecutorial power.
He argued that the police had no legal grounds to file such a charge, citing Section 367 of the Police Regulations, which prohibits officers from instituting legal proceedings on matters connected to their employment or interests. He also pointed out that Section 174 of the Constitution vests the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) with the power to prosecute, not the IGP.
“They brought the charge under Section 24 of the Cybercrime Act, which has been amended to remove provisions that allowed the law to be used as a tool for personal vendettas. The police have no power under that law to file a charge over alleged defamatory comments made by a Nigerian against any person, including the IGP,” he added.
Speaking during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Thursday, Abubakar revealed that Sowore was invited for questioning via WhatsApp over a video he allegedly posted exposing corruption and disobeying police orders. However, when he and his legal team asked for specifics on the alleged crime, the police failed to provide any substantial details.
“When they saw that the charge would not hold, they decided to dig deeper and came up with allegations that Sowore cyberstalked the IGP by calling him an ‘illegal IGP’. I regard that charge as most laughable,” Abubakar said.
Abubakar further called for the abolition of laws criminalising free speech, stating that Nigeria remains one of the few countries where authorities attempt to suppress dissent through legal means.
“In the entire world today, Nigeria is the only country where you see that the police have made an attempt to criminalise free speech,” he said, adding that public officials should seek redress in civil courts rather than misuse state institutions.
He also criticised the judiciary for being complicit in such cases, asserting that Nigerians must take a stand against growing impunity.
“Nigerians have to rise up and challenge this impunity. We can no longer continue like this, where in a country, the ‘strong men’ continually perpetuate themselves and use the instrument of state to oppress and gag Nigerians… unless Nigerians come to the fore and take the gauntlet and take charge of their country, then we are doomed,” Abubakar warned.
He reaffirmed that Sowore’s legal team would take all necessary steps to ensure the charges were withdrawn and that appropriate sanctions were imposed on the IGP.