The condemnation of the arrest of Omoyele Sowore continued yesterday with the Noble laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, lamenting that the country had been thrown into a cycle of suppression of citizens’ rights.
The police, at the weekend, accused Sowore, the convener of #RevolutionNow protests and the Global Coalition for Security and Democracy in Nigeria of trying to force a regime change in the country. They alleged that the move by the pro-democracy activist and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the last general elections amounted to treasonable felony and an act of terrorism. Consequently, Sowore was arrested in the early hours of Saturday by operatives of the Directorate of State Services (DSS) in his apartment.
To Soyinka, Sowore’s arrest is a sad reminder of a similar unfortunate development that occurred during the era of the late former Head of State, Gen. Sanni Abacha.“This is all so sadly déjà vu. How often must we go through this wearisome cycle? We underwent identical cynical contrivances under the late, unlamented Sani Abacha, when he sent storm-troopers to disrupt a planning session for a similar across-nation march at Tai Solarin School, Ikenne.”
The Nobel laureate, in a statement yesterday, noted that the deployment of “alarmist” expressions such as “treason”, “anarchist” and “public incitement” by security forces has become so predictable and banal that they have become meaningless. He said: “Beyond the word ‘revolution’, another much misused and misunderstood word, nothing that Sowore has uttered, written, or advocated suggests that he is embarking on, or urging the public to engage in a forceful overthrow of government. Nothing that he said, to me, in private engagement ever remotely approached an intent to destabilise governance or bypass the normal democratic means of changing a government.
“I, therefore, find the reasons given by the Inspector-General of Police, for the arrest and detention of this young ex-presidential candidate totally contrived and untenable, unsupported by any shred of evidence. His arrest is a travesty and violation of the fundamental rights of citizens to congregate and make public their concerns.
Source: Guardian Newspaper
