Whether or not it is constitutional for a judge to order the detention of a citizen for 90 days as provided under the Terrorism Prevention Act, activist and lawyer, Femi Falana SAN said yesterday that it is time to find out.
The senior lawyer said the detention of the convener of #RevolutionNow protests, Omoyele Sowore, has provided that opportunity.
According to Falana, the country’s human rights credentials was at risk of worsening under a democratically elected government, than “under the worst military dictatorship” if the 90-day order is legitimised.
He said: “I met Mr. Omoyele Sowore in detention on Wednesday. He is in high spirits. In anticipation of today’s (Thursday’s) ruling, he had instructed us to challenge the refusal of the SSS to charge him with the alleged offences of terrorism or treason within 24 hours of his arrest as stipulated by Section 35 of the Nigerian Constitution. More so, that some of those who participated in the Revolution Now protests in Lagos and Calabar have since been charged with unlawful assembly and breach of the peace!
“It is, however, pertinent to note that the Terrorism Prevention Act as amended which empowers a judge to order the detention of a citizen for a period of 90 days was not enacted under the Buhari regime. It was enacted by the national assembly in 2011 and amended in 2013. But it has never been invoked to justify the detention of placard carrying protesters in any part of the country!
“We had convinced the authorities to repeal the obnoxious provision of the Act. Instead of acceding to our request the national assembly enacted the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 which permits a pre-trial detention period of 14 days subject to renewal.
“No doubt, the Sowore case provides an opportunity to test the constitutional validity of the 90-day detention period.
“Even under the worst military dictatorship in Nigeria the maximum detention period was three months subject to renewal by the detaining authorities. Our situation should not be worse under a democratically elected government.”