Justice Tsoho: A Zombie or Actor?
It was a boisterous moment in
Nnamdi Kanu’s trial when Nigeria’s high court Justice Adeniyi Ademola on
December 17, 2015, ruled that Nnamdi Kanu should be unconditionally released on
bail. http://news.yahoo.com/nigerian-court-frees-detained-biafra-activist-195858315
Hear Justice Ademola: "I set
aside the orders of November 10, 2015 and order the release of the applicant
(Kanu) on bail unconditionally." Shortly after his judgement, there was
wide-spread euphoria across Nigeria and beyond. But that did not last long. Sad
news choked the good news. First, there was a brutal clampdown of jubilating
supporter in Onitsha by the Nigerian Army. http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/nigeria-army-accused-killing-nnamdi-kanu-supporters-onitsha-during-celebrations-1533984
Second, the Department of State
Security unsurprisingly ignored the rulings of Justice Ademola and festered with
its “illegal” detention of Kanu. I knew the ruling was too good to be true
considering that Nigeria is ranked among the most corrupt nations on earth, and
ruled by a hardened autocratic and former military leader
On December 30, Buhari told views of the state
media that Nnamdi Kanu had “committed a very serious offence” and that he hope
“the court will listen to the case.” His threat to the judiciary provoked
another judge Ahmed Mohammed, to wash his hands off the case in a Pontius
Pilate-styled manner. http://pulse.ng/local/nnamdi-kanu-judge-excuses-self-from-radio-biafra-directors-case-id4491716
However, another judge Justice Tsoho took
over the handling of the case. How courageous is Tsoho to despise Buhari’s call
by picking up the case?
So who is this Justice Tsoho?
Dr Wale Babalankin, was arraigned
by EFCC and had been going on trial for two years. On February 23 2015, Justice
Lateef Lawal-Akapo discharged Dr. Babalankin noting that, “there was no basis
for the charge.” And consequently he ruled out the suit. http://thenewsnigeria.com.ng/2015/06/judge-steps-down-from-babalakin-efcc-case-2/. According to
ThenewsNigeria, “Justice Akapo observed that the entire 27-count charge did not
contain any single charge that constituted an offence under the laws of
Nigeria” However, the EFCC was not satisfied with the ruling and went on to
file a similar charge against Dr Babalankin. After Dr Babalankin had discovered that the
EFCC plans to file another set of charges again, they approached the Federal
High Court seeking for protection and a judicial review of the actions. The new
judge though, on 19th April, granted a restraining order against EFCC, Dr
Babalankin would not celebrate for long. The Judge shortly, overturned his own
rulings and granted EFCC permission to further proceed with the case.
On the following Monday the judge
withdrew from the suit "following a petition from Babalankin's lawyer to
the Chief Judge the federal high court seeking transfer of the case to another
judge. The basis of the petition dated June 19, “was that the ex-parte order
restraining EFCC from arresting Babalakin was discharged without a formal
application.
Guess who the judge is? Yes it is Justice Tsoho.
On February 19, 2016, Justice Tsoho
ruled out any secret trial or masked witness as proposed by DSS on Nnamdi
Kanu’s trial. However, just two weeks later, Justice Tsoho contradicted his own
judgment by granting the DSS permission to mask the witness. There were
allegations against Justice Tsoho that it was only a political posture of the
judge and the DSS to pretentiously buy more time. It is only a
heavy shame that such attributes can be associated with a public servant, let
alone a so-called Judge.
So is Justice Tsoho a zombie following Buhari's orders despite contradictions in law or just an
actor playing out the DSS script?
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