A group of Nigerians based within
and outside the country has described the continued detention of Omoyele
Sowore, convener of the #RevolutionNow Movement, as a mockery of democracy.
In a statement on Sunday, the
group called for the immediate release of Sowore and Olawale Bakare, who was
also arrested just like the activist.
It said President Muhammadu
Buhari is “a beneficiary of the gallant efforts of the likes of Sowore, over
almost two decades, to return Nigeria to democratic rule and expand the space
for democratic life.”
“We, the undersigned, call for
the immediate release of pro-democracy activists, Messrs. Omoyele Sowore and
Olawale Bakare, from detention,” the statement read.
“On September 30, Mr. Sowore was
arraigned before an Abuja Federal High Court on charges of “treason, money
laundering, and harassing the president” – the last of which is unknown to
Nigerian statutes. On October 4, an Abuja Federal Court granted both Messrs.
Sowore and Bakare bail, but on conditions so stiff and so onerous as to amount
to no bail at all.
“Even though Sowore’s lawyer, Mr.
Femi Falana, SAN, announced, after the bail conditions were revised, that the
conditions have been satisfied, the Department of State Security (DSS) has
refused to respect the rule of law. We fear that the Federal Government is
determined to continue to hold on to both men for as long as possible.”
The group said there were indications
that Sowore was targetted for the “vigorous and unsparing criticism of the
current administration and the state of affairs in Nigeria”.
“Many who have expressed
patriotic and visionary objections to the fundamental crises of the Nigerian
state have made similar calls (for revolution) in the past. President Muhammadu
Buhari did so when he felt that elections were rigged against him,” the
statement read.
“Before he became president,
Buhari relentlessly inveighed against three successive presidents, even as he
repeatedly lost electoral contests against his predecessors. He was neither
harassed nor detained. Indeed, today, President Buhari is a beneficiary of the
gallant efforts of the likes of Sowore, over almost two decades, to return
Nigeria to democratic rule and expand the space for democratic life.
“Therefore, this insidious and
lawless move by the Buhari administration runs against the basic ethos of
democracy, including freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. We urge
Nigerians from all walks of life and those committed to human liberty all over
the world to speak up against this blatant perversion of justice. We call on
the National Assembly, civil society organizations, and international human
rights and political advocacy organizations to put pressure on the Federal
Government to release Messrs. Omoyele Sowore and Olawale Bakare immediately.”
The statement was signed by
Ebenezer Obadare, University of Kansas, US; Wale Adebanwi, University of
Oxford, UK; Ayisha Osori, Concerned Citizen, Abuja, Nigeria; Chido Onumah,
African Centre for Media & Information Literacy, Abuja, Nigeria; Frank
Abumere, The Arctic University of Norway, Norway; Kunle Ajibade, The News,
Lagos; G. Ugo Nwokeji, University of California, Berkeley, US; Nike Ransome-Kuti,
legal practitioner, Lagos.
Others are Tunde Fagbenle,
author, Ibadan; Amatoritsero Ede, University of the Bahamas, The Bahamas; Akin
Osuntokun, Visiting Fellow, University of Oxford, UK; Rogers Orock, University
of Witwatersrand, South Africa;
Ebun Sonaiya, Lagos; Kole
Odutola, University of Florida, Gainesville, US; Teju Olaniyan, University of
Wisconsin-Madison, US; Funmi Iyanda, OYA Media, UK; Stacey Vanderhurst,
University of Kansas, US; Tade Ipadeola, PEN International; Elke Zuern, Sarah Lawrence
College, New York, US; James Yeku, University of Kansas, US; Kathryn Rhine,
University of Kansas, US; Moses Ochonu, Vanderbilt University, US; Dapo
Olorunyomi, Premium Times; and Jumoke Verissimo, University of Alberta, Canada.
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