… Warns of contempt during heated Abuja trial
ABUJA — Drama unfolded at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday as Justice Mohammed Umar threatened to commit Mr Marshall Abubakar, lead counsel to the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, for contempt following a heated courtroom exchange during proceedings in Sowore’s ongoing trial.
The judge’s warning came after Abubakar repeatedly raised his voice while addressing the court, prompting Justice Umar to order him to step forward and kneel down in open court.
The tense moment was eventually diffused when lawyers present in the courtroom, led by prosecuting counsel Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, quickly intervened and pleaded with the judge to temper justice with mercy.
Sowore is being prosecuted by the Department of State Services (DSS) over allegations that he made false claims against President Bola Tinubu.
The confrontation occurred shortly after Abubakar concluded the cross-examination of the prosecution’s only witness, Mr Cyril Nosike, a DSS official.
Following the cross-examination, Kehinde informed the court that the prosecution had closed its case and urged the court to direct the defence to open its case.
Responding, Abubakar said the defence intended to file a no-case submission and suggested that the matter be adjourned until July.
The prosecuting counsel immediately opposed the request, arguing that it was part of what he described as dilatory tactics by the defence aimed at further delaying the proceedings. He proposed that the case be heard on a day-to-day basis.
Justice Umar observed that while the prosecution had been swift in presenting its case, the defence had spent four days cross-examining a single witness.
The judge ruled that hearing the matter on a daily basis would not be feasible and consequently adjourned the case until April 13 for the adoption of final written addresses on the anticipated no-case submission.
Abubakar appeared dissatisfied with the date fixed by the court.
While Sowore, speaking from the witness box, attempted to explain how the adjourned date might affect the primaries of his political party, his lawyer simultaneously began addressing the court, raising his voice and declaring that his client was determined to wrest political power from President Tinubu.
“This court belongs to all of us. This court is not for some people alone. It belongs to all of us,” Abubakar shouted.
The judge repeatedly instructed the lawyer to lower his voice, but the warnings were ignored.
Reacting sharply, Justice Umar warned that he would not tolerate such conduct in his courtroom.
“If you shout in this court again, I will commit you for contempt. In fact, come here! Come and kneel down here!” the judge said, pointing to a spot in front of the courtroom.
The situation threatened to escalate further before several lawyers stood up to plead with the court to forgive Abubakar.
While the appeals were ongoing, Justice Umar announced the adjournment of the case to April 13 for the adoption of written addresses and subsequently rose for the day.
Earlier in the proceedings, the prosecution had raised concerns that Sowore brought a recording device into the courtroom dock.
Kehinde informed the court that the defendant appeared to be in possession of a recording gadget and urged the court to order that it be confiscated.
Sowore, however, denied the allegation when the judge allowed him to respond, insisting that he only had his eyeglasses, a power bank and his phone with him.
Justice Umar recalled that the court had earlier directed that the defendant should not bring any gadget with him into the dock.
The judge therefore ordered Sowore to hand over the items to his lawyers, which he did through a court official before the items were transferred to his counsel.
Earlier at the start of proceedings, Abubakar told the court that he had only learnt of the sitting shortly before the session began.
He explained that he was appearing in another court and had come without the case file.
He subsequently applied for a stand-down until 12:30 p.m. to enable him to retrieve the file from his office.
Although the prosecution objected, describing the request as another attempt to delay the trial, the judge granted the application.
When the court reconvened shortly before 1 p.m., Abubakar proceeded to cross-examine the DSS witness for about two hours.
During the cross-examination, the defence lawyer tendered several newspaper publications in evidence, some of which were handed to the witness to read aloud before the court.
