By Emeka Asinugo
In a proper democratic setting, there is separation of powers. And that is very important if the rule of law must continue to guide democracy away from authoritarian tendencies in governance.
It is the rule of law that fundamentally restricts arbitrary exercise of power by subordinating all authority to established, well-defined laws.
And it is against this backdrop that the recent alleged display of raw power by Nigeria’s secret police has obviously created the impression that the country’s fragile democracy is under a serious threat.
Video clips went viral of the state security service allegedly wrestling down Omoyele Sowore and re-arresting him right inside a courtroom even after a high court judge ordered that he be granted bail.
Sowore, the publisher of New York-based ‘Sahara Reporters’ and a presidential candidate during this year’s presidential election, was the the convener of the #RevolutionNow protest.
Sowore was released from the Department of Security Service (DSS) detention after a court gave a 24-hour ultimatum to release him.
The court also awarded N100, 000 costs against the prosecution for failing to comply with a court order requesting the release of Sowore and for not serving the defence counsel with necessary documents early enough. But operatives of the DSS re-arrested Sowore barely 24 hours after his release.
After the resumed hearing, there was a stampede in the courtroom occasioned by DSS operatives who allegedly cocked their guns to scare away the judge, lawyers, journalists and Sowore’s sympathizers before Sowore and his co-defendant Bakare were re-arrested and returned to custody by the DSS.
It would be an understatement to say many Nigerians were not happy with the way the DSS continued to give the impression to the world that it was above the laws of the land by flagrantly flouting court orders or trying to get around them by some weird argument that only exposed their disregard for the rule of law and the tenets of democratic governance.
The excuse had always been that the alleged culprits were a threat to national security. But the question is: who defines what constitutes national insecurity, the law courts or the DSS? And so, from recent events in the country, it is clear that the DSS has become so self-opinioned that it is actually turning itself into a threat to the rule of law, to democracy and by inference the national security it was established to protect.
The DSS Public Relations Officer (PRO) Dr Peter Afunanya has said categorically that the circulation of the video on the alleged re-arresting of Sowore right inside a courtroom was the handwork of mischief makers, meant to serve as propaganda machine to bring the DSS into disrepute. According to him, Sowore stepped out of the courtroom and sighted operatives of the service within the premises. He ran back into the courtroom.
In a bid to shield him from an “imaginary arrest”, his uncontrollable supporters mobbed him as they chanted “you can’t arrest him”. Pandemonium ensued.
Dr. Afunanya said “a critical look at the videos in circulation would convince any objective viewer that there was no DSS personnel during the entire period the crowd of Sowore supporters acted out its orchestrated drama.
DSS personnel were never, at any time, involved in the incident. In actual fact, it was his people who seized him.”
But the argument doesn’t add up. What could possibly have caused a pandemonium if all the people in the courtroom were on the same side of Sowore? In other words, it is only in a situation of conflict that a pandemonium can take place.
Afunanya said the eventual re-arrest of Sowore was effected outside the courtroom adding that his counsel had affirmed it. This informative contention only confirmed that Sowore’s fear of being re-arrested was not “imaginary” after-all as Afunanya alleged. It was real.
Both Sowore and the crowd that supported him knew that the DSS was up to something cocky. Even looking at the video clip, it will be quite difficult to determine whether or not DSS operatives were there because some of them operate incognito, in mufti dresses.
Read ALso: Falana to Fed Govt: Stop subjecting Sowore to media trial
What every Nigerian must understand is that there is always a tendency for overzealous workers in government, especially in the various military and paramilitary establishments, to go the extra mile to execute what they consider their responsibility in the defence of their principals, even when the boss has no idea what was happening.
It happened in Abacha’s regime and even in Buhari’s time as a military head of state. I guess that this is exactly what is happening. These overzealous workers create an aura of fear on the populace and in such a way, they convince themselves they were paving the way for their boss to be regarded as a sacred cow who is somewhat above the law.
But this attitude of the agencies is scarcely democratic as it pitches directly against the rule of law. And that is where a responsible opposition comes in.
What is the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, doing to ensure that the ruling government is actually working in the interest of the people? It is the responsibility of the shadow government to ensure that the institutions of democracy are respected by government and that government agencies do not constitute themselves into a threat to national security by disrespecting the rule of law which is the heartbeat that propels democracy. Nigeria’s shadow government should live up to its responsibility.
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