Posted by By Estelle Shirbon on
The Nigerian government is using the courts to try and silence opposition, a lawyer said on Thursday at the trial of Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, a militia leader from Nigeria's oil-rich delta who is accused of plotting a coup.
ABUJA, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The Nigerian government is using the courts to try and silence opposition, a lawyer said on Thursday at the trial of Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, a militia leader from Nigeria's oil-rich delta who is accused of plotting a coup.
Drawing a comparison with the case of ethnic Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was hanged by a military government 10 years ago to the day, lawyer Festus Keyamo told the court it should not allow itself to be part of a government "conspiracy".
"The federal government has nothing against us, nothing. This case is to cow, intimidate and silence opposition to the government," Keyamo said during a bail application hearing. "Ten years ago, under similar circumstances, the world had reason to cry over Nigeria," he said, referring to the hangings of Saro-Wiwa and eight others on Nov. 10, 1995, after a murder trial that was internationally condemned as unfair.
"The only way to exorcise that ghost is for this court to reverse that day and exercise justice," he added.
Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999 but it has failed to bring peace to the Niger Delta, where resentment by poor villagers at the multibillion-dollar oil industry and incompetent government fuels a cycle of protests, conflicts and repression that has killed thousands.
Asari, an ethnic Ijaw nationalist from the delta who last year sent world oil prices to record highs with a threat to wage all-out war on the state, stands accused of plotting to take up arms to overthrow the government and other crimes. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Since his arrest in September, three other prominent ethnic nationalist leaders from the Ibo and Yoruba tribes have also been detained, suggesting that authorities have toughened up their response to groups which question Nigeria's unity.
"EVIL ENTITY"
The prosecution's case against Asari rests partly on a newspaper interview in which he was quoted as saying: "Nigeria is an evil entity. It has nothing to stand on and I will continue to fight and try to see that Nigeria dissolves and disintegrates."
Asari raised his fist as he entered the court, clad in a black beret and a black T-shirt that read "The Struggle Is Unstoppable", and sporting a newly grown beard.
He said he had gone on a hunger strike for four days over his detention conditions, but these had now improved and his strike was over. He looked tired but not visibly ill or thinner.
Asari gained international fame last year when he fought sporadic armed battles against troops in the remote mangrove creeks and swamps of the delta.
He says his struggle is to defend the rights of the delta's inhabitants, while critics accuse him of seeking personal enrichment from a protection racket and oil theft.
The fighting ended when he struck a deal with the government to disarm in exchange for amnesty. He handed in thousands of guns and rounds of ammunition and rebased in a luxurious house in the centre of regional capital Port Harcourt.
Public prosecutor Salihu Aliyu told the court he should not be granted bail because he would disappear into the creeks.
"If the accused is released on bail, there will not be a single Nigerian who will come and testify against him for fear of his life because he knows what will happen to him: kaput," Aliyu said.
Justice Peter Olayiwola said he would rule on the bail application on Friday, while the trial proper would start on Jan. 10 or Jan. 11, 2006.
If convicted, Asari, 41, could face life in prison.
As Asari left the court, dozens of his supporters raised their fists and chanted "Niger Delta freedom fighter, one more river to cross!"