Justice Iyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court has ordered the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami and DG of the Department of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Bichi, to appear before the court over the detention of Omoyele Sowore.
Femi Falana, counsel to Omoyele Sowore, on Tuesday, made the application.
He sought an order of the court for the respondents to appear and explained why his client was still being detained.
Justice Ekwo noted that he has seen all processes filed and adjourned the case to 23rd December 2019 for hearing while mandating the Deputy Chief of the Court to notify the AGF and DG DSS of the proceedings and the order.
Malami had stated that he could not direct the DSS to release Sowore from custody.
A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Umar Gwandu, said such will amount to a unilateral decision as the case of the #RevolutionNow protests convener and his co-defendant, Olawale Bakare, was still in court.
Falana had demanded that Malami take action on the continued incarceration of the duo.
His call followed Malami’s order to the DSS to hands-off the trial of the activist and hand over the case to his office.
But Malami said the action doesn’t mean he could free Sowore at will.
Malami said: “When parties submit their issues for determination to a court of law, they lack exclusivity of decision over such issues without recourse to the court.”
“We remain guided by the established tradition and will not take a unilateral decision without recourse to the rule of law,” he added.
Sowore has remained in detention following his re-arrest by operatives of DSS at the Federal High Court in Abuja on December 6, 2019.
