Falana Urges Nigerian Police Chief Egbetokun To Revoke Illegal Bail Conditions For Sowore, Calls For Immediate Release
Falana criticised the requirement of involving senior civil servants or public officers in the bail of individuals accused of criminal offences, describing it as unlawful and unprecedented.
Nigerian human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has called on the Inspector-General of Police, Dr. Kayode Egbetokun, to annul the bail conditions imposed on activist Omoyele Sowore and ensure his immediate release from police custody.
Falana criticised the requirement of involving senior civil servants or public officers in the bail of individuals accused of criminal offences, describing it as unlawful and unprecedented.
He explained that the involvement of civil servants or public officers in the public service of the federation and states as bail sureties for criminal suspects is not a practice in Nigeria or any part of the civilised world.
He cited the Court of Appeal’s ruling in Dasuki v. Director-General, SSS [2020] 10 NWLR PT. 1731 PG. 136-143, where Justice Adah JCA (now JSC) declared such practices as illegal.
He further argued that the Nigerian Civil and Public Service Rules provide no legal basis for such conditions.
Falana highlighted the unrealistic expectation that a Level 16 civil servant could possess property worth N100 million, noting that this contradicts public service rules and undermines Nigeria’s anti-corruption efforts.
The human rights lawyer urged the Nigeria Police Force and other law enforcement agencies to respect legal precedents and uphold the rule of law, stressing the need for Sowore’s unconditional release without further delay.
Falana said in a statement on Tuesday, “Yesterday, the authorities of the Nigeria Police Force arrested Mr. Omoyele Sowore for alleged cyberstalking. In admitting him to bail, the suspect was asked to produce a surety who is a Grade Level 17 officer in the Federal Public Service.
“It is pertinent to draw the attention of the Nigeria Police Force and other law enforcement agencies in Nigeria to fact that the Court of Appeal declared the involve Force of top level civil servants in the bail of criminal suspects in the case of Dasuki V. Director-General, S.S.S. [2020]10 NWLR PT.1731 PG. 136-143 where Adah JCA (now JSC) held as follows:
“Let me quickly say that of concern it is to us that as a court we must be ready and sensitive enough not to allow or do anything that will run foul of the law. The issue of involving civil servants or Public Officers in the Public Service of the Federation and the State in bail of people accused of criminal offences has never been the practice in Nigeria or any part of the civilized world.
“It was an oversight on our part to allow it in. Our Civil and Public Service Rules do not have any room for it.”
“Expecting a Level 16 Servant to own property worth N100,000,000, will be running counter to the Public Service Rules and by extension the war against corruption,” he said.
“It is in this respect that I will act ex debito justitiae to ensure that the aspect of involving serving Public Servant below the status of Level 16 Officer in either the state or Public Service of the Federation or any of its agencies be removed and I so order.”
“In view of the clear and unambiguous state of the law, we are compelled to call on the Inspector-General of Police, Dr. Kayode Egbetokun, to cancel the illegal bail condition for Mr. Omoyele Sowore and release him from police custody without any further delay,” he added.
SaharaReporters reported on Monday that Sowore was being detained at the Nigerian Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) office at Old Abattoir by Guzape Junction, Abuja, following his refusal to accept the bail conditions imposed by the police.
Sowore earlier announced that the police would hold him in custody until further notice due to the parties’ failure to reach an agreement on the bail conditions.
The former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) has described the bail conditions as “illegal”.
However, sources informed SaharaReporters that Sowore was subsequently taken to the IRT office at Old Abattoir, a location previously used by the now-defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Abuja.
“Sowore is being detained at the IRT office in Apo, Abbatoir Police Station in Guzape,” one of the sources said.
The conditions include producing a level 16 civil servant as a surety and surrendering his passport.
Sowore had honoured an invitation by the police over his exposé on officers allegedly extorting motorists along Ikeja, Lagos State.
However, he rejected the bail terms twice.
“He rejected their bail conditions twice because he is not prospered to honour any illegal bail conditions but as SaharaReporters had initially disclosed in its reports, the goal was to fly him to the Lagos State Criminal Investigation Department at the Commissioner’s Office and then charge him to court and not grant him bail,” a source privy to the situation told SaharaReporters on Monday.
Rejecting the bail conditions, Sowore via his X handle on Monday, said, “The PoliceNG team assigned to my case has informed me that the DIG of FID, Dasuki Galandachi, has reevaluated my bail conditions, necessitating the production of a level 16 civil servant and the surrender of my international passport, a condition I have declined outright.
“I refuse to participate in any arrangement that undermines my personal integrity.”
