"The manner in which the president demonstrated a high level of maturity during the budget presentation; the manner in which he tolerated every rancour that was displayed in the National Assembly, I appeal to him to carry the same maturity and tolerance into accommodation of people that criticise his government outside the National Assembly," Imagwe stated.
A group of civil society organisations has called on the National Judicial Commission (NJC) and President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to obey the court order that granted the release of Deji Adeyanju, Convener of Concerned Nigerians.
The group made the appeal on Saturday in Abuja during a press conference on the continued detention of Adeyanju by the Police.
On Friday, a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja had ordered the immediate release of Deji Adeyanju. However, in a separate ruling, the magistrate court sitting in Kano ordered that Adeyanju should be remanded in Police custody. [story_link align="left"]65737[/story_link]
Jude Imagwe, Coordinator of Advanced Initiative for World Peace and Human Rights Activist, asked the Police to respect the superior order by Justice Danladi Senchi of the FCT High Court which granted Adeyanju's release, in a fundamental human rights suit filed Mike Ozekhome SAN and Tolu Babaleye.
Speaking on the matter, Imagwe said: "We invite the National Judicial Council (NJC), the Chief of Judge of Kano State and the entire bar and bench to take note of the wicked and malicious pronouncement made by Hassan Fagge of Magistrate Court 19, Sabon Gari, Kano, which is symbolic of the tyrannical days of military dictatorship. You cannot decline jurisdiction and still make an order remanding our brother in prison custody.
"If you declined jurisdiction in attending to somebody's case, you equally do not have the power again to appropriate judgement, because your first decline of jurisdiction means that you have told the Police that brought that person to you that you do not have power to hear this case.
"A country is sustained and strengthened if the institutions serve the citizens and not the government. The Police is to serve the citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and not the government of the country, because the government will come and will go but the citizens will always remain. So, we are appealing to the Inspector General of Police to demonstrate high level of tolerance and maturity when citizens, activists and civil society see things that are wrong in government and criticise government about it. If a government is not criticised, the government is being deceived."
He pointed out that Adeyanju did not mean evil for the country by protesting against the government, adding that it is the government that is duty-bound to have a rethink on where it is getting it wrong on policy direction. He appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the matter and prevail on the Police to obey the superior court order and ensure Adeyanju's release.
"The manner in which the president demonstrated a high level of maturity during the budget presentation; the manner in which he tolerated every rancour that was displayed in the National Assembly, I appeal to him to carry the same maturity and tolerance into accommodation of people that criticise his government outside the National Assembly," Imagwe stated.
Also speaking, Coordinator of the Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution, Dare Ariyo Atoye, added that the order of the FCT high court was the superior judgement on the matter.