Lawyer Claims Court’s Actions Frustrated Medical Trip and Accuses Court of Persecution in Forgery Trial

A lawyer and human‑rights activist, Barrister Victor Giwa, has publicly complained of persecution during his trial before the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Apo.

In a recent motion filed with the court, Giwa accused the judges of deliberately delaying his application to obtain a passport for medical treatment abroad.

He alleged that the court has repeatedly adjourned the hearing of his passport‑release application, first from 25 May 2026 to 3 June and then to 10 June 2026, in order to interfere with his scheduled appointments with a general practitioner in the United Kingdom.

“This court has shown a ‘personal interest’ in this case and has deliberately adjourned the hearing of my application for the release of my passport from 25 May 2026 to 3 June and now to 10 June 2026 to deliberately frustrate my scheduled appointment with my GP in the UK, of which I have consistently failed the two appointments of 28 May 2026 and 5 June 2026. I rely on the record and proceeding of this Honourable Court on 25 May, and 3 June 2026,” he wrote.

He added that he is very ill, suffering from heart problems that cause high blood pressure of 170/120 mmHg, and that his passport application is to allow him to travel for two weeks from 5 July to 22 July 2026 to obtain medication from his GP in the UK under the care of his family, in order to prevent a partial stroke or cardiac arrest.

The Inspector General of Police is prosecuting Giwa for alleged forgery.

Giwa described his trial as persecution rather than prosecution, claiming that a retired Assistant Inspector‑General of Police in charge of Legal Matters, who is the nominal complainant, and others are using the Nigerian Police Force and the court to pursue personal interests.

In the affidavit he stated, “I know of a fact that I’m being persecuted, not prosecuted, by some persons other than the acclaimed Inspector General of Police (IGP) using this Honourable Court as a weapon against me to settle ‘personal scores.’”

He added that, as a senior lawyer, a senior member of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Garki branch, a member of the Electoral Reform Committee and the NBA Election Observation Group, and a co‑minister in the temple of Justice, he expects the court to grant him the passport for his medical care.

“Instead, my persecutors led by a retired AIG, the former Head of Legal of the Nigeria Police Force, the nominal complainant and others whose names I will withhold for now, are weaponising this Honourable Court to witch‑hunt me for their personal interest,” he continued.

He reiterated that his passport application is for a two‑week period from 5 July to 22 July 2026 to obtain medication from his GP in the UK under family support, to prevent a partial stroke and cardiac arrest.

He also claimed that his persecutors have used government resources and written to three hospitals to obtain medical opinions about his condition, copies of which are included in the complainant’s counter‑affidavit.

In the charge against Giwa, the police accused him of forging the letterhead of Senior Advocate of Nigeria Chief Awa Kalu, after a petition was raised by the nominal complainant, Asabe Waziri, a staff member of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

Chief Awa Kalu, in a letter to the Inspector General of Police, Mr Kayode Egebtokun, denied any forgery, stating that he had never made such a complaint.

Despite Kalu’s letter distancing himself from the forgery allegation, the police proceeded with the charges.

In a letter dated 30 May 2025 to the Inspector General of Police, Kalu clarified that he neither filed a complaint nor reported Giwa for allegedly forging his firm’s letterhead.