Detained journalist seeks transfer of case over Saro-Wiwa treatment ‘threat’ by Judge

Detained Nigerian journalist, Agba Jalingo, is seeking the transfer of his case from the Justice Simon Amobeda of the Calabar Division of the Federal High Court.
Jalingo’s request was contained in a letter to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, dated November 27, 2019.
In the letter, the foremost journalist, who has been in and out of detention for allegedly casting aspersion on the Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade, said he would not get justice from Amobeda based on a conversation the judge had with some unidentified persons on his case.
The audio was published by credible online newspaper, The Cable.
Jalingo, who attached a copy of the audio recording and link to the story to his letter to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, said in part: “Everything said in the secret audio recording was to strangers who had no business with my case whatsoever. It was behind my back, the back of my counsel, the back of the Prosecutor, and on a day in which my case did not come up before him, Justice Simon Amobeda.
“Among other things in his voice in the secret audio recoding, Justice Simon Amobeda promised to treat me like Ken Saro-Wiwa was treated in his trial and conviction and sentenced to death by a Military Tribunal during the lamentable military dictatorship of the late General Sani Abacha.”
Jalingo thus requested for his case to be transferred to another judge in order to protect his right to fair hearing.
He said: “It is therefore my humble plea to your good office to help secure my constitutional right to fair hearing by reassigning my case to another judge that has a better appreciation of the call of justice which, in my case, includes the solemn one of determining, like God Almighty, whether I live or die. I beg that the reassignment should be to a Judge outside the Calabar Division, thus making him less susceptible to local politics pressure.”