What to expect today on Sowore’s case
Sowore has since been informed that he will appear at the Federal High Court, Maitama on Monday, 30th September 2019. So, he is excited and happy to be stepping outside the walls of DSS detention center first time in 52 days.
By 8am, he would pack his few belonging (his phones will remain with the DSS) and he will be taken in a DSS vehicle escorted by about 12 DSS personnel. To make sure his supporters do not disrupt anything, the DSS would alert the Abuja police command, which will send up to 30 policemen to take positions near the court premises to avoid any unruly crowd.
By 8:45am, Sowore will arrive at the court, where his lawyers and friends will be waiting to meet him. But only his lawyers will be allowed to meet him briefly before they enter inside the courtroom. Sowore will not be handcuffed.
Immediately the court opens, Sowore's will be called. He will enter the dock as the defendant. The DSS lawyer (a prosecutor from the Ministry of Justice) will announce his appearance with two to three other lawyers with him. Femi Falana will announce his appearance with more than 5 lawyers with him, for Defendant- Sowore. The Registrar of the Court will ask Sowore if he understands English, to which he will likely answer yes.
The Registrar will read each count of the 7-count charges. At the end of each, the registrar will ask him to plead either guilty or not guilty. Sowore will plead not guilty to each count. Then the prosecutor will ask the court to set a date for trial and to remand the Defendant.
Falana will inform the Court that he has filed a bail application and served the DSS. The prosecutor will admit that they have been served with bail application but that they need time to respond.
The court will adjourn the case for about a week to two weeks to enable the prosecution to file its counter affidavit and for the bail to be argued. Then the court will remand Sowore. The question here is where Sowore will be remanded. The normal place to remand a person after arraignment is in the prisons (corrections now). But DSS has in some few cases tried to have a high profile defendant remanded in their custody such as Dasuki and El-Zakzaky. We believe that DSS will treat Sowore no differently from Nnamdi Kanu and since Nnamdi Kanu was remanded in Kuje, that's where Sowore will be remanded.
Once remanded in Kuje around 11am today, either the DSS or the prison warders will take Sowore to Kuje prison where he will be processed and assigned to a cell and a custody. The next day he will start his medical tests to ensure he has no communicable diseases that may require him being isolated from the general inmate population.
Sowore will find the prison less restricted than the DSS detention center, even though the food at the DSS is better than in the prisons. In the prison, Sowore will determine whether he will eat the prison ration or to be allowed to feed himself. Inmates on self-feeding have choice over what they eat. He will be allowed to have visitors and to call his lawyer and family through the prison welfare department. Having been in DSS detention center for over 50 days, it will be a relief for Sowore to be in prison custody from today. The DSS detention is far more isolating and restricted than the prisons.
For Sowore, today marks an end to one chapter in his criminal justice experience, while it opens another new Chapter for him.
DPA RAMBO PREDICTED THAT DSS WOULD NOT RELEASE SOWORE.
It is really unfortunate that DSS worked itself into a very tight and awkward corner ever. All along, DSS was operating in apparent compliance with Nigerian substantive laws and procedures that were heavily tilted in favor of DSS and against personal liberty. And to the extent that they appeared to work within those legal rules, it was difficult to blame DSS, as they did not make the laws.
But all that changed few hours after Justice Taiwo granted bail to Sowore. He ought to have been released once the terns and conditions set by the court were met. That was what DSS needed to maintain the appearance that it acted within the law. Having failed to maintain that appearance of compliance with law, DSS has come under increasing criticism, and rightly so. At the same time, Sowore appears more like a victim of state-sponsored persecution, and rightly so, too.
The story now is how DSS failed to comply with court order. That takes away any merits in their case against Sowore. Many knowledgeable people are now asking why such blunders by DSS. Why not arraign Sowore before the expiration of the 45 days granted to them to detain him? Alternatively, why didn't they apply for two weeks extension of the 45 days, which would easily have been granted to them? Alternatively, why not release him and arraign him when you are ready since his lawyer has undertaken to produce him for arraignment? Any of these would have been better than the option DSS have chose to follow. It is believed that some people within the DSS deliberately screwed up their strategy.
Anyway, we believe that DSS is just trying to get a date in court to arraign Sowore. But they were never to play that game and with everyday that passes without them either arraigning Sowore or releasing him, they run out of any moral maneuverable room left. We believe that DSS still won't release him. They want to keep him till he is arraigned. But if DSS don't arraign Sowore today, Friday, September 27, and do not release him either, then DSS has lost the game.
Our best guess is that Sowore will be arraigned today and be remanded in prison today. We don't foresee any alternative to this. Our analysis of the history and psychology of DSS leaders leads us to believe that Sowore's lawyer's decision to initiate a contempt proceedings against DSS will push them into a fierce resistance up to the point of thumbing their noses at the courts. Though that will be unfortunate, that is a reality suggested by a close study of the history of DSS.
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Part 2 of update on Emeka Ugwuonye: Today in court 26/9/2019
IT WAS A BOMBSHELL TODAY IN COURT.
During the continued cross-examination, Emeka Ugwuonye's lawyer asked David Aiyedegbon: "When you saw the picture of the headless body of a woman, which Emeka Ugwuonye posted on Facebook on 26th of June 2016, did you recognize it as the body of your estranged wife?"
David shocked everybody by saying that the legs of the body resembled his wife's and that he recognized it from the picture then.
This was a bomb shell because the while fight between DPA and the police was that DPA said that the body was Chacha's body while David and the police accused DPA of lying about that. For two years, David and the police denied the body and claimed that Chacha was alive and was sighted in Brazil and South Africa in night clubs as recently as in 2017. The first charge the police filed against Emeka Ugwuonye was for lying that the body was Chacha's. Nobody was prepared for David's answer today. If ever David and the police had accepted that the body was Chacha's, DPA would have ended the investigation since because all DPA wanted was to find Chacha, dead or alive.
When the hearing was over today, David was seen outside quarreling with the police lawyers because of the answer he gave to that question. But an intelligent person can understand why he gave that answer today. David knew where Emeka's lawyers would be taking him to soon: why did the police refuse to conduct any test on the body that DPA said was Chacha's body? They failed to conduct any test which would have confirmed the body to be Chacha's. They spent two years denying that the picture was Chacha's only to suddenly admit it was. They claimed that they became aware it was Chacha's only after Jekwu confessed in May 2018.
They now realized that if their only evidence that the body was Chacha's was Jekwu's coerced confession, there may be no evidence that Chacha was dead unless they accepted the theory of DPA. And you cannot accept DPA theory and at the same time be fighting Emeka Ugwuonye for advancing that theory. So, David now dies a u-turn to suggest that they base their present position on David's observation of the body in 2016. Very interesting!
DPA is very happy with the development. We have achieved our first objective which is to show that the headless body of the woman found in Bwari on May 12, 2016 was Chacha's and that both the police and David knew all along that it was Chacha's body. DPA has compelling evidence to show that the police had been lying all along and that they were covering the truth.
Well, God is good! Emeka Ugwuonye was and still is ready to go as far as necessary to bring out the truth the police is covering. Emeka allowed himself to be detained in Abattoir on July 6, 2018 because he wanted to interview Jekwu and Emmanuel and that was the only way he could reach them. Emma's family had been begging Emeka for DPA to help Emmanuel. But Emeka could not decide without speaking to Emma. So, when Emeka was sent to Abattoir, the police saw it as punishing Emeka, while Emeka saw it as an opportunity to interview these boys accused of killing Chacha, to know if they actually did it. In Abattoir, Emeka learned more about how devilish the police were.
When they charged Emeka and remanded him in prison, he was glad to go because he had a mission which would be better served by finding out what goes on there. That is why he insisted that nobody should worry about him being in prison, that him being in prison would help DPA.
Let us be patient and strong, like the man that is leading us in this matter. He swore that a woman like Chacha should not just disappear and there would be no explanation what happened. After 3 years of lying, Chacha's husband admitted in court that immediately he saw the picture of the body shared by DPA in 2016, he knew it was picture of Chacha's body. That brings David to the same position as the Chacha's friend, whose opinion of the pictures Emeka Ugwuonye relied on to conclude that it was Chacha's body.
We hope our members will continue to follow this case.
Part 2 of update on Emeka Ugwuonye: Today in court 26/9/2019
IT WAS A BOMBSHELL TODAY IN COURT.
During the continued cross-examination, Emeka Ugwuonye's lawyer asked David Aiyedegbon: "When you saw the picture of the headless body of a woman, which Emeka Ugwuonye posted on Facebook on 26th of June 2016, did you recognize it as the body of your estranged wife?"
David shocked everybody by saying that the legs of the body resembled his wife's and that he recognized it from the picture then.
This was a bomb shell because the while fight between DPA and the police was that DPA said that the body was Chacha's body while David and the police accused DPA of lying about that. For two years, David and the police denied the body and claimed that Chacha was alive and was sighted in Brazil and South Africa in night clubs as recently as in 2017. The first charge the police filed against Emeka Ugwuonye was for lying that the body was Chacha's. Nobody was prepared for David's answer today. If ever David and the police had accepted that the body was Chacha's, DPA would have ended the investigation since because all DPA wanted was to find Chacha, dead or alive.
When the hearing was over today, David was seen outside quarreling with the police lawyers because of the answer he gave to that question. But an intelligent person can understand why he gave that answer today. David knew where Emeka's lawyers would be taking him to soon: why did the police refuse to conduct any test on the body that DPA said was Chacha's body? They failed to conduct any test which would have confirmed the body to be Chacha's. They spent two years denying that the picture was Chacha's only to suddenly admit it was. They claimed that they became aware it was Chacha's only after Jekwu confessed in May 2018.
They now realized that if their only evidence that the body was Chacha's was Jekwu's coerced confession, there may be no evidence that Chacha was dead unless they accepted the theory of DPA. And you cannot accept DPA theory and at the same time be fighting Emeka Ugwuonye for advancing that theory. So, David now dies a u-turn to suggest that they base their present position on David's observation of the body in 2016. Very interesting!
DPA is very happy with the development. We have achieved our first objective which is to show that the headless body of the woman found in Bwari on May 12, 2016 was Chacha's and that both the police and David knew all along that it was Chacha's body. DPA has compelling evidence to show that the police had been lying all along and that they were covering the truth.
Well, God is good! Emeka Ugwuonye was and still is ready to go as far as necessary to bring out the truth the police is covering. Emeka allowed himself to be detained in Abattoir on July 6, 2018 because he wanted to interview Jekwu and Emmanuel and that was the only way he could reach them. Emma's family had been begging Emeka for DPA to help Emmanuel. But Emeka could not decide without speaking to Emma. So, when Emeka was sent to Abattoir, the police saw it as punishing Emeka, while Emeka saw it as an opportunity to interview these boys accused of killing Chacha, to know if they actually did it. In Abattoir, Emeka learned more about how devilish the police were.
When they charged Emeka and remanded him in prison, he was glad to go because he had a mission which would be better served by finding out what goes on there. That is why he insisted that nobody should worry about him being in prison, that him being in prison would help DPA.
Let us be patient and strong, like the man that is leading us in this matter. He swore that a woman like Chacha should not just disappear and there would be no explanation what happened. After 3 years of lying, Chacha's husband admitted in court that immediately he saw the picture of the body shared by DPA in 2016, he knew it was picture of Chacha's body. That brings David to the same position as the Chacha's friend, whose opinion of the pictures Emeka Ugwuonye relied on to conclude that it was Chacha's body.
We hope our members will continue to follow this case.
Update on Emeka Ugwuonye: Today in court 26/9/2019
The hearing was held, but the hearing was adjourned because the judge had a meeting to attend. This affected all cases scheduled today.
The cross-examination of David continued. It was an extremely successful process.
Emeka Ugwuonye was totally satisfied with the work of his lawyers. We are getting closer to the truth and that has been the aim of DPA from the start. We just couldn't not accept that a woman as Chacha would just disappear and it will be covered up. However it takes to find the truth, we are ready for it. It is clear that our opponents totally overrated themselves.
You really needed to be court today to watch David in the witness box. You would have learned a lot more about this case and about human nature.
The case was adjourned till 24 and 29th of October. It is a good timing from Emeka's lawyer's perspective.
God bless you!
AS EXPECTED, DSS WOULD NOT RELEASE SOWORE
What we want is one thing, and what will happen maybe be totally different. That difference is known as reality. The philosophy of focusing on what actually happens rather than on what you would want to happen is called realism. In jurisprudence, it is called the realist school of thought.
Even Falana knew that DSS would not release Sowore now. Indeed, he should be surprised if they did. Then he should wonder why they did not release El-Zakzaky with 25 million followers that are willing to die for his release, or why they did not release Nnamdi Kanu, when the court first ordered them to release him.
What bothers me is that you keep quiet when DSS is doing the same thing to others, but make so much noise when they do it to your friend. This is where DPA is different. We are constantly seeking to change every vestige of injustice in Nigeria. We don't wait until our friend is in trouble before we come out to demand for justice.
As I predicted earlier, Sowore will be arraigned and remanded in Kuje rather than release him. Don't get me wrong. I do not support DSS on Sowore. What I'm doing is to refuse to pretend that a leopard is an antelope. Until you join the comprehensive effort to ensure justice for all, your selective effort to ensure justice for some, but not others, will fail. Sowore is going through the reality of Nigeria. And I repeat, Sowore has supported that reality when others were at the receiving end.
This is what we expect DSS to do. They may release him and rearrest him on the spot. They may just rush him to court to arraign him. They may also cook up other ways to continue to keep him. Certain things going on out there will not make a difference. DSS will try to resist pressure.
I know the matter will be resolved, and quite dramatically, but not the way you guys expect. Take out all the student union elements in your approach. Until we change the institutions involved in Nigeria justice system, what you see now is like seeing 4 after adding 2 and 2. There should be no surprises.
If Sowore is arraigned tomorrow or whenever he is arraigned, he will probably be meeting Emeka Ugwuonye. I am sure Emeka will be nice and kind to him, and even teach him some survival skills he would need in prison.
Keep watching events.
Life is full of ironies: Sowore and Ugwuonye
In 2009, a Nigerian Ambassador to Washington, Ade Adefuye, paid Sowore substantial amount of money for him to use his Sahara Reporters to destroy Emeka Ugwuonye. Sowore took the money and went to work. He published repeatedly malicious falsehood against Emeka Ugwuonye.
Emeka tried to fight back by suing Sowore in America for defamation. Adefuye used Farida Waziri, then head of EFCC, to detain Emeka in Nigeria in 2011 when Emeka came on a visit to Nigeria. Sowore made a deal with Farida Waziri. The deal was that Sahara Reporters would not attack EFCC or Farida Waziri again if EFCC would detain Emeka in Nigeria until he would lose his defamation case against Sowore. Ambassador Adefuye used the might and superior connection within the Nigerian government to cement the deal between Sowore and EFCC. Emeka was detained for 3 months in 2011 by the EFCC and Sowore escaped from the lawsuit Emeka filed against him in America.
Sowore continued to use Sahara Reporters to report that Emeka Ugwuonye was disbarred and a rogue in America, which was false. He later started reporting that Emeka was disbarred in Nigeria, as far back as 2016, which was false and remains false (Emeka's case against the Nigerian Bar is still pending at the Supreme Court but Sahara Reporters already decided the case before it was filed).
Emeka Ugwuonye's illustrious legal career was derailed and the man nearly destroyed because many people began to believe these lies by Sahara Reporters and even joined in spreading them.
Sowore made a career in taking money from people to destroy their enemies. He took two million dollars from enemies of President Jonathan to destroy Jonathan. Ironically, Jonathan never arrested him. Sowore is a dangerous and manipulative person. He wanted to be famous. He tried to exploit the cases of IPOB and El-Zakzaky for cheap fame. But it stuck in his throat. There is no easy route to real fame.
Because of years of destructive malicious attacks he waged against Emeka Ugwuonye it was possible for Emeka, one of the best lawyers Nigeria ever produced on the international scene, to be detained on trumped up charges and people are not worried. Sahara Reporters' malicious and destructive attacks on Emeka Ugwuonye progressively weakened Emeka and turned a lion into the lamb that could be easily abused and detained for months in prison without question.
And as an irony of fate, Sowore will be meeting Emeka Ugwuonye in that prison as early as this week or next. It is the height of hypocrisy for anyone to cry for Sowore. Indeed, Nigerian government has been too nice to him.
As for Rambo, we laughed the day Sowore was arrested. We knew he would get there because you cannot deceive people all the time. We also understand the Nigerian twisted legal system very well. That was why we have been very accurate in analyzing the development of the case. As that legal system was used against Emeka Ugwuonye with active instigation from Sowore through Sahara Reporters, Sowore rejoiced and even boasted of how he was able to dim the bright stars of Emeka Ugwuonye.
Emeka has adapted to the harsh conditions of Nigerian society. From the Ivy League of Harvard Law School to the low dust of the Nigerian enclave. Let Sowore start his own adaptation. From jungle justice of Sahara Reporters to jungle justice of DSS. We understand what will happen to Sowore. Even if he is granted bail, he will not be allowed to leave Nigeria. And if he remains in Nigeria, Sahara Reporters will not be effective tool for blackmail. Or he will be rearrested for every blackmail report done through Sahara Reporters. They already made it sufficiently clear that they can charge him for any false publication on Sahara Reporters for "insulting the president or for insulting DSS". So funny! Sahara Reporters will be out of business if it cannot insult. And if he escapes from Nigeria while on bail, he will perish his political ambition in Nigeria. He underestimated the DSS guys. Guy man die, guy man burry am!
Just relax and watch. Sowore's only option is to beg extensively and make a deal. First, as he did with EFCC under Farida Waziri, let him pledge never to criticize Nigerian government again and to use Sahara Reporters as mouthpiece for the government. We heard he has already started begging. He has a lot of it to do. And if you were the government, will you make a deal with Sowore? No! He will betray you once you stop paying him.
How Gen. John Agim Agim made a fool of himself when he boasted that Nigerian army recruitment process involves the death of up to 25% of the applicants.
The report is as follows:
"Gen. John Agim Agim (rtd), a former spokesman of the Defence Headquarters, has revealed that during each recruitment exercise, 15-25% of successful applicants are expected to die during training.
This statement was carried by many Nigerian news blogs. Many people who read this on the social media have reacted angrily, calling Gen. Agim a fool and idiot for obvious reasons.
Interesting development in Southern Africa
Yesterday, there was a huge protest in South Africa's largest city. In the protest, thousands of South Africans asked Nigeria and the world to forgive them for the xenophobic violence.
Also yesterday, at the funeral of President Mugabe, the crowd booed at the South African President when he came to make his speech. The President repeatedly apologized for the violence in South Africa, saying he was ashamed of it.
The events of the past two weeks have placed South Africa in a terrible state, setting their country's development 25 years behind. It will take many peace protests and apologies from the President to make any difference.
About Mother-in-laws: Let’s clarify a post I made recently
It doesn't matter what you think, a mother-in-law (MIL) CANNOT take over the running of the home of her son while the son's wife is there. The MIL must maintain the restrained presence of a special guest of honor.
I had to make this clarification because I could read all manner of comments from men suggesting that their mothers are the madams of their houses, which showed they totally misunderstood my post. Your mother cannot be the lady of your house, even if you're single. Do you sleep with your mum? Does she sleep in your bedroom? It is wrong to allow your mother to push your wife aside and begin to run your home.
Indeed, when I saw everybody liking my post I became concerned. Anytime I see too many people agreeing with me, I feel disturbed.
If you are not ready to marry, don't marry. But if you marry, accept the meaning and implication of your marriage. If your mother is still the woman in your life, you cannot say you're married or that you're a grown adult.
Not just coming over and taking over your home, your mother is not the woman with final say on what happens in your house. She can't be. Even those of you that claim to be Christians don't understand the Bible. "Respect and honor your parents" does not mean your mother can shove your wife aside.
I read some of the men threatening to throw the wife out of the house if she asks the mother to leave. I pity them because they already condemned themselves to marrying a poor uneducated and unemployed wife whom they can enslave. Otherwise, if they marry their equal, how can they throw them out. Instead, they will be leaving with their mothers.
Just respect and honor your parents, don't bring your mother to push your wife away. And please don't come to DPA and threaten to throw your wife out. We are not comfortable with that. That means that you're using our platform to propagate an idea we condemn. We won't accept that.
If you are a mother and you're visiting your son and his wife, and the wife asks when you are living, that is after you have stayed 6 months, you should not get offended. It is a legitimate question. It may not be diplomatic for her to ask you in such a direct manner. But you can't get offended.
No home or family can be peaceful or prosperous if you do not accord every member the respect and honor due to him or her. Respect and honor your parents.