The legal team of the African
Action Congress (AAC), Lagos chapter, has called on the Department of State
Services (DSS) to release Omoyele Sowore.
Sowore, presidential candidate of
the AAC during the 2019 general election, was arrested and has been in DSS
detention since August.
Although it requested for 90
days, the federal high court in Abuja approved that the DSS could hold Sowore
for 45 days after he was accused of threatening public peace with his planned
#RevolutionNow protest.
In a statement on Saturday, Tope
Akinyode, head of the legal team, said 45 days had already been completed and
the DSS should immediately release Sowore.
“We are not aware that Sowore was
remanded to prison by any Court order on 20th September, 2019. In criminal
matters, pending when bail application is made on behalf of a Defendant, he may
be temporarily remanded by Court,” the statement read.
“The Defendant (Sowore) was not
remanded by Court order yesterday. However, the 45-day Court order upon which
the DSS has continuously held on to him Sowore expires today, 21st September
2019.
“Based on the foregoing, we
hereby call on the DSS to release Omoyele Sowore from their facilities with
immediate effect. We submit that the DSS lacks the judicial, statutory or
constitutional jurisdiction to further withhold Sowore any moment from today
and it would amount to a rape on the Nigerian Constitution if the DSS refuses
to release Sowore today.”
The lawyers added that the
ex-parte order upon which the DSS is granted permission to withhold Sowore for
45 days negates the fundamental principle of fair hearing and the order has
since been challenged before the court.
In a seven-count charge, the
federal government had, on Friday, accused Sowore of causing insult on
President Muhammadu Buhari.
He was also accused of money
laundering and cyberstalking the president.
Human rights groups and activists
have continued to call for the immediate release of Sowore.
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