Adeyanju: Rule of Law or Persecution?

The continued detention of Deji Adeyanju, Convener, Concerned
Nigerians, by a Kano magistrate’s court is curious. Hassan Fagge, a
magistrate, ordered that Adeyanju be kept in prison after he was
arraigned by the Nigeria police force over alleged murder, an
allegation he had been acquitted of some years ago and granted bail
on two occasions, on charges bordering on public incitement and
criminal defamation.

First, he was arrested on November 28 and had since faced three
separate charges, securing bail in two of those charges. But the
latest, which borders on alleged murder, has to do with a case
Mohammed Haliru, a judge of the Kano State High Court, acquitted
and discharged him, alongside three others of in 2009.

Interestingly, however, at the resumed hearing, Fagge said the
court lacked power to hear the charges and ruled that the activist
be remanded in prison till an adjourned date of February 6 for
hearing in a higher court.

Although Justice Danladi Senchi of the Federal High Court,
Abuja, has granted an order seeking his immediate release on
fundamental human rights as filed by his counsel, Mike Ozekhome,
the trajectory of the case suggests there might be more than meets
the eye.

Is it about the rule of law or this is sheer persecution of
Adeyanju for obvious political reasons? Well, time will prove this
right or wrong.