Thread by @ChidiOdinkalu

For all the young lawyers, now excited about the onset of campaigns for the elections into leadership of @NigBarAssoc in Jul 2020, pls take a few mins to read the story of #TheTrialOfJosephOdok. Odok, is a lecturer, philosopher &, like u, a lawyer.... Thread

Joseph Odok belongs to @NBAAbuja. He is fully paid up on his practising fees, has his #StampAndSeal & practises as a lawyer. He is a former lectuer. He is also a politically engaged citizen, active on #SocialMedia & a member of the ruling @OfficialAPCNg.

punchng.com/criver-apc-ber…

#JosephOdok is from Cross-River state, which is ruled by @ben_ayade of @OfficialPDPNig. He is a well-known critic of Mr. Ayade. But that is not the only person Odok has criticised. In 2018, @Uni_Cal took exception to his criticism of their VC on Facebook

paradisenews.ng/31633/unical-r…

Around 26 Sept 2019, #JosephOdok disappeared from his residence in Abuja. For over 7 days, no1 cld account for him. On 4 October, @policeNG took him to Fed. Hi Court (2) in Calabar b4 Justice Simon Amobeda, to apply for an order to detain Odok for 90 days without bail.

At this time, Amobeda was also presiding over #TheTrialOfAgbaJalingo. As if by prior agreement, the court perfunctorily granted @PoliceNG a renewable 45-day detention order. This was the 1st official acknowledgement of #JosephOdok's whereabouts since his disappearance.

It emerged that officers of @PoliceNG, in cahoots with @ben_ayade had arranged to abduct #JosephOdok from Abuja on 26 Oct. They moved him by road to Calabar, some 12 hrs away. There, they stowed him in a #BlackSite, unknown to anybody until 4 Oct. @NigBarAssoc said nothing.

On 4 Oct, @PoliceNG had informed the court that they needed time to investigate #JosephOdok for allegations of treasonable felony, terrorism & worse. But 10 days later, on 14 Oct, they arraigned him before the same Court on 2 counts of terrorism & cyberstalking.

Essentially, the charges in #TheTrialOfJosephOdok accuse him of trying to overthrow the govt of @ben_ayade in Cross-River State, by critical Facebook posts. On 16 Oct, Justice Amobeda denied bail to #JosephOdok, claiming that he had failed to show "exceptional reasons".

Following what appeared to be pressure from @OfficialAPCNg, around 28 Oct, @PoliceNG as the investigating & prosecuting entity, applied to Justice Amobeda to discontinue the case. The judge refused, ruling that only the Federal Attorney-General cld

crossriverwatch.com/2019/11/joseph…

Thereafter Justice Amobeda invited reopening of the issue of bail in #TheTrialOfJosephOdok. When the Court took arguments on bail on 13 Nov, @PoliceNG counsel who had previously sought to discontinue the case, Denis Tarhemba, vehemently opposed bail #JosephOdok.

The court adjourned to 21 Nov to rule on bail. On 29 Nov, the court deferred the ruling to 27 Nov. This was later shifted to 5 Dec but ruling was not ready on that date either. 30 days after bail arguments, on 12 Dec, Amobeda finally ruled denying bail. Odok returned to jail.

The judge adjourned #TheTrialOfJosephOdok to 18 December & then to 17 January 2020 for continuation. This ensured that like #AgbaJalingo, #JosephOdok wld spend the Xmas & New Year holidays detained at the Calabar Central Prison.

When the case resumed yesterday before Justice Amobeda, the defence in #TheTrialOfJosephOdok renewed its application for bail. The Prosecutor was initially missing. Eventually he showed up to ask for the case to be adjourned by 1 week so he cld oppose the application

So, #TheTrialOfJosephOdok has bn adjourned to continue b4 Justice Simon Amobeda at the Federal High Court (No.2) in Calabar on Tuesday, 21 January. On that day, #JosephOdok wld have bn detained without bail on the most specious of charges for 92 days.

Through these 92 days, including 8 days secreted in a black site, & 10 court appearances of adjournments, neither @NBAAbuja nor @NigBarAssoc has said pim! No statement, no visit, not acknowledgement, no appearance. It's as if #JosephOdoko has bn wiped off the records of the Bar.

So, for all u young lawyers hollering for whom u want to be your next @NigBarAssoc president, ask urself what the association offers u concretely. If an established lawyer like #JosephOdok can be so forgotten when his kinsman is the President of the Bar, what can u expect?

Next time anyone comes to ask u to support their aspiration for office in @NigBarAssoc, pls ask them what they have done on the matter of #TheTrialOfJosephOdok & why they have bn so silent. If they cannot say anything in defence of year colleague, why shd u put ur faith in them?

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