Lagos-based human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana , who is representing the detained Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore has told a Federal High Court, Abuja, that the Department of State Services lacks the power to arrest, investigate and prosecute his client or any person whatsoever under the Terrorism Prevention Act as amended.
However, Falana in his written submission on point of law before the court argued that the state agency is not one of the law enforcement agencies recognised and listed in Section 40 of the Terrorism Prevention Act as amended to carry out such arrest and detention. He urged the court to determined three issues; whether the SSS was right to approach the Court under the Terrorism Amendment Prevention Act, 2013; whether it was right to approach the court through an ex parte application for the detention of Sowore and whether or not the grant of the order for the detention of the SSS is an infringement upon the fundamental human rights of Sowore.
“In the reply to counter-affidavit the respondent/applicant has said that the officers of the applicant/respondent did not obtain any order of this Honourable Court before searching his abode and before subjecting him to investigation and seizing his telephones. We submit that the said search and investigation are illegal as they violate Section 24 of the Act”, Falana submitted.
He also averred that the armed operatives of the applicant/aespondent who arrested him on August 2, 2019 searched his house, seized his telephones and detain him and subjected him to investigation without any court order. “That in further response to paragraphs 4 he did not plan a coup with anyone but he mobilised the Nigerian people including students and youths, workers, market women and other oppressed people to influence the federal government, the 36 state governments and 774 local governments to address the crises of corruption, maladministration, mismanagement of the economy and insecurity.