Tension erupted at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday after African Action Congress presidential candidate and activist Omoyele Sowore confronted a lawyer who allegedly referred to him as a “tout” shortly before proceedings commenced in his ongoing trial over alleged cyberbullying of President Bola Tinubu.
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The lawyer, identified in reports simply as Yakubu, was accused of making the remark during an exchange inside the court, prompting Sowore to demand an immediate withdrawal of what he described as an insult.
A video of the incident reviewed by TheNigeriaLawyer shows a crowded courtroom environment, with lawyers, supporters and other persons gathering closely around the two sides as the disagreement intensified. Several people could be seen attempting to intervene while Sowore gestured repeatedly during the exchange.
The confrontation did not appear to become physical in the footage, but the atmosphere was visibly tense, with people moving between the parties as the argument continued.
Sowore challenged the lawyer over the alleged remark, insisting that exercising his rights did not justify being described in derogatory terms.
“Why did you call me a tout? What have I done to you? You have to withdraw that insult. How can you say I am a tout? For what? For exercising my rights?” he said.
He further protested that the lawyer had no right to insult him, maintaining that he had no personal disagreement with him.
“You have no right to insult me. I don’t have any problem with you,” Sowore said.
@thenigerialawyer“Why Did You Call Me A Tout?” — Sowore Confronts Lawyer Inside Abuja Court Ahead Of Cyberbullying Trial
As the argument continued, Sowore himself described the lawyer as an “idiot,” saying a legal practitioner should know better than to allegedly insult another person inside a courtroom.
“He is an idiot; he shouldn’t have insulted me in a courtroom. He’s a lawyer; he should know better,” Sowore said.
Some of Sowore’s supporters also joined the exchange, condemning the alleged remark as those around the parties attempted to keep the situation under control.
The footage, which bears an Arise News watermark, captures the confrontation from different positions in the courtroom, showing Sowore surrounded at various times by lawyers and supporters while the disagreement continued for several minutes.
The precise circumstances that led to the alleged “tout” remark were not immediately clear from the publicly available reports, and the lawyer’s full account of what preceded the confrontation was not available.
The incident occurred ahead of proceedings before Hon. Justice Mohammed Garba Umar in Sowore’s ongoing Federal High Court trial arising from social media posts in which he allegedly described President Tinubu as a “criminal.”
Later in Monday’s proceedings, the court dismissed Sowore’s application seeking to compel the Director-General of the State Security Service, Oluwatosin Ajayi, to personally appear as a witness.
Sowore, through his counsel, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, SAN, had asked the court to compel Ajayi’s personal appearance to testify concerning official activities of the SSS relating to the case.
The SSS, represented by Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, opposed the application, arguing that the testimony being sought concerned official acts of the agency and could be given by another competent officer.
Justice Umar agreed, holding that the expected evidence was not personal to the Director-General and that a designated SSS official with knowledge of the relevant official activities could testify on behalf of the agency.
Following the ruling, the defence called its third witness, Michael Jego, an investigating officer with the SSS.
Jego told the court that he was part of the investigation team which identified Sowore’s social media posts and subsequently advised him to retract them. According to his testimony, the investigative team monitored reactions generated by the posts as part of its assessment of the matter.
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