TEMPERS flared at the Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja, on Wednesday, June 25, during the trial of August #EndBadGovernance protesters.
The court became tense when Ibrahim Mohammed, the counsel to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbegbokun, asked the judge, Emeka Nwite, for adjournment of the case so he could prepare, because, according to him, he was just taking over the matter from the previous counsel.
The request from the prosecuting counsel angered some of the defence counsels, who immediately protested against the proposed adjournment.
One of the defence counsel, Deji Adeyanju, who vehemently opposed the application, said the matter had lingered for too long because of the lack of diligence on the side of the prosecution team.
He argued that postponing the case would cost the defendants, whom he described as ‘poor,‘ more suffering. “These are poor Nigerians who protested against bad governance in Nigeria,” he stated.
He therefore asked the judge to strike out the case.
In addition, the human rights lawyer asked for compensation for the defendants to alleviate the suffering they had gone through since the beginning of the case.
On his part, another defence counsel, Abubakar Marshall, said he was taken aback that the prosecutor attempted to raise a “dead issue.”
He said both the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), and several other state actors had called and pleaded that the case be closed.
“We have agreed and orders were made that the charges be withdrawn, and they informed us that all the charges will be withdrawn,” he stated.
He argued that the defendants appeared before the court willingly, the prosecution failed to prove its case in court, and the case should be discontinued.
He, however, asked for compensation of N500 thousand each for the defendants.
Other defence lawyers aligned with all the submissions put forward by their colleagues and asked for the case to be struck out.
Responding, the prosecuting counsel, Ibrahim, submitted that the defence counsels were trying to whip up sentiments with their submission, a position that further angered the defence team.
The judge succeeded in calming the tensions after a lot of arguments.
In his ruling, the judge, Nwite, said that although justice delayed is justice denied, it is important that the case be properly heard.
Nwite, however, warned that if the prosecution team failed to present its case at the next adjourned sitting, the case would be struck out.
“We will only adjourn this matter on the condition that if, on the next adjournment, they are unable to go on with this matter, this case will be struck out,” the judge stated.
He thereafter adjourned the matter to October 9, 2025, for trial.
The eleven defendants, namely Akande Daniel, Adaramoye Michael Lenin, Mosiu Sodiq, Angel Love Innocent, Adeyemi Abiodun Abayomi, Buhari Lawal, Bashir Bello, Suleiman Yakubu, Opaoluwa Eleojo Simon, Nuradeen Khamis, and Abdulsalam Zubairu, were charged before Nwite by the IGP.
They are facing charges bordering on alleged treason, intent to destabilise Nigeria, conspiracy to commit a felony, and inciting mutiny.
Recall that between August 1 and 10, 2024, Nigerians took to the streets to protest against the country’s rising cost of living and widespread corruption.
During the protest, many of the protesters were arrested and charged with treason.
The ICIR reported that Amnesty International (AI) had, in a report on November 28, stated that at least 24 people were killed and over 1,200 others, including minors, were detained during the protest.
A reporter with the ICIR
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