By Desire Emmanuel
Lawyer to activist, Omoyele Sowore, Tope Temokun, on Tuesday, November 11, said the repeated ‘wanted order ‘ by the Lagos State Police Commissioner, Moshood Jimoh, on his client shows he wants to walk on the path of anarchy as it’s an open defiance of an existing court order.
It will be recalled that the Lagos Police boss on Monday insisted that Sowore remains a wanted man for organising a protest on the Third Mainland Bridge over demolitions carried out at the Oworonshoki area of the state.
However, reacting to the order declaring Sowore wanted, Temokun said it violated the interim order of the Federal High Court that restrained the police from carrying out the order, adding that the statement is a contempt of court.
According to him: “A Commissioner of Police, who should embody discipline and respect for the law, has chosen instead to drag the image of the Nigeria Police Force into shameful disrepute by publicly repudiating the authority of the court. His words are not just careless, they are an invitation to anarchy, an open challenge to judicial authority, and an affront to constitutional order.”
He added that no police officer in Nigeria, including a Commissioner of Police, has the constitutional power to declare a citizen wanted without following due process of law or without the authorisation of a competent court of law.
He disclosed that Section 215 of the Constitution does not confer arbitrary powers and it only vests the police with duties subject to the rule of law and the supervision of the courts.
“The same constitution that he cites in part also establishes the courts as the ultimate interpreters of the law. Therefore, any act that undermines a subsisting court order is not policing, it is insurrection against lawful authority,” he added.
He also called on the Police Service Commission to immediately call the Lagos CP to order, adding that a serving Commissioner of Police cannot openly mock a court order and remain in office without consequence.
“The Lagos CP must purge himself of contempt and desist immediately from any act that undermines the court’s authority or threatens the liberty and safety of Mr. Omoyele Sowore,” he stated.
