A northern youth group has called for the prosecution of Omoyele Sowore, publisher and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, over an alleged leak of court footage involving a Department of State Services operative.
The group, Northern Ethnic Youth Group Assembly, said the leaked video showed Sowore’s lawyer cross-examining a DSS officer during proceedings in an alleged cyberbullying case instituted against Sowore by the secret police.
In a statement on Wednesday, the group described the circulation of the footage as contempt of court, a mockery of the judicial process and a grave breach of national security.
The statement was signed by the Assembly’s spokesperson, Alhaji Ibrahim Dan-Musa.
According to the group, the video allegedly exposed the identity of a DSS operative, an act it said contravened the National Security Agencies Act of 1986 and the Official Secrets Act of 1962.
It argued that revealing the identity of a secret service agent could attract severe punishment under Nigerian law, including lengthy jail terms, fines and possible asset forfeiture.
The group drew a comparison with the United States, where it said exposing the identity of an intelligence officer is treated as a serious criminal offence.
“In Nigeria, blowing the cover of a secret service agent, who swore to an oath of secrecy, is a breach of both the National Security Agencies Act and the Official Secrets Act,” the statement said.
It added that Sowore and his legal team ought to have known the implications of making such footage public, given that the matter was still before the court.
While noting that Sowore was already standing trial for alleged cyberbullying, the group said the leaked footage could expose him to more serious charges bordering on national security.
The Assembly further urged the Federal High Court, presided over by Justice Mohammed Umar, not to ignore what it described as direct contempt of court.
It called on the trial judge to impose appropriate sanctions, warning that failure to do so could undermine the sanctity of the court and the country’s security laws.
The group insisted that personnel of the DSS are bound by a strict oath of secrecy to protect classified information in the interest of national security.
The video, which is about 12 minutes long and has since gone viral on social media, shows Sowore’s lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, cross-examining a witness identified as a DSS operative.
It also captured an objection raised by counsel to the DSS, Akinlolu Kehinde, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, as well as a ruling by the trial judge during the proceedings.
