A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Edwin Anikwenu, alongside no fewer than 13 lawyers from the Garki Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), appeared before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, sitting in Apo, to defend human rights lawyer, Victor Giwa, who is facing an allegation of forgery.
The police, in the charge before the court, accused Giwa of forging the official letterhead of Professor Awa Kalu, SAN.
During the bail proceedings, Anikwenu urged the court to admit Giwa, the second respondent, to bail on self‑recognition. In the alternative, he prayed the court to release him to any executive member of the NBA Garki Branch.
The SAN explained that the grounds for the bail application were contained in the body of the motion, supported by an affidavit deposed to by one Abu Gabriel.
He further informed the court that, in compliance with the rules, a written address had been filed alongside the bail motion. He argued that Giwa would neither abscond nor interfere with investigations, which had already been concluded.
The prosecution, led by Eristo Asap, opposed the bail application. He contended that granting bail at this stage could jeopardise the case pending before the court.
In his ruling, Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie admitted Giwa to bail in the sum of ₦30 million, with two sureties not below the rank of director in the civil service, each with valid identification.
The court further directed Giwa to deposit his travel documents with the registrar of the court as part of the bail conditions.
This development came despite a letter from Professor Awa Kalu, SAN, to the Inspector‑General of Police (IGP), formally distancing himself from the allegations of forgery and impersonation against Giwa.
Giwa, a human rights lawyer, had been in police custody for about three weeks without bail, reportedly on the orders of the court.
In his letter to the IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, Professor Kalu clarified that his letterhead had never been forged and that he had not at any time lodged a complaint with the police regarding forgery of his documents.
Specifically, in a letter dated 30th May 2025, Kalu stated that he neither filed a complaint nor reported Giwa for allegedly forging the letterhead of his firm, Awa U. Kalu (SAN) and Partners (formerly Awa U. Kalu (SAN) and Associates), which the police alleged was used to communicate with the Attorney‑General of the Federation.
Separately, Giwa, in a letter dated 23rd May 2025, urged the IGP to investigate allegations of financial inducement behind the charges filed against him. He specifically called for a probe into the roles of the Commissioner of Police, Legal Services, Chiozoba Oyakhire Ehiede, and Ms. Asabe Waziri of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, alleging that they were connected to the frivolous charges brought against him.
