‘You can’t intimidate me!’ — Sowore sparks drama in courtroom showdown with SAN
Drama unfolded at the Federal High Court in Abuja when activist Omoyele Sowore, clashed with a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, while attempting to address journalists inside the courtroom.
A video circulating online shows the lawyer confronting Sowore, saying that the courtroom was not a proper setting for a press briefing, reports Daily Sun.
Sowore disagreed with the lawyer’s position, saying, “You’re intimidating me and insulting my intelligence because you’re introducing yourself to me as a SAN. I also have my own SANs.”
“I have practised for close to three decades and have never seen this happen,” the lawyer said while urging the journalists to move the interview outside the court premises.
“The court must serve as a venue of justice, not a conference,” the lawyer added.
Eyewitness accounts suggest the clash momentarily disrupted proceedings, forcing the presiding judge to intervene and restore order. While details of the case itself remain limited, the dramatic exchange underscores the often charged atmosphere surrounding high-profile legal battles involving political figures in Nigeria.
Sowore, a persistent critic of the Nigerian government and founder of Sahara Reporters, has frequently found himself at the center of legal and political controversies.
If Sowore’s media chat was disruptive, I would understand the concern of the unnamed SAN in trying to avoid a conflict between a media “conference” and a court session, But I also sense an attempt at ego-tripping in his choice of words and manner of approach. Beyond the optics, his words raise some important questions worth pondering: Is a “venue of justice” necessarily exclusive from “a venue of (media) conference”? Is the court not a place where people hold conference in pursuit of justice? Is the pursuit of justice and the common good not, ultimately, the goal of both the media and the courts? An interesting conversation loading.