Detained social activist,
publisher and politician, Omoyele Sowore, has spoken out from the custody of
the State Security Service.
Sowore revealed that he is being
held as part of a grand scheme by the Buhari administration to shut down
Nigeria’s civic space.
In a rare move to directly send
out a message to the public, he called a reporter from PremiumTimes on Thursday afternoon
It was a message of courage,
defiance and hope for both his teeming supporters and the Nigerian downtrodden
people.
Mr Sowore, a former student union
activist who confronted military regimes and went to jail for it, was arrested
in August in connection with his #RevolutionNow campaign — a series of nationwide
protests he had planned with other activists to demand a better Nigeria.
The protests were planned to
commence on August 5 across 21 towns and cities, with public awareness
escalating as the day drew closer.
But suddenly on August 3, armed
SSS officers broke into an apartment Mr Sowore was occupying with some of his
closest associates in Lagos. He was taken away in the midnight raid that was
captured by security cameras.
The arrest elicited outrage from
Nigerians, with many slamming the SSS’ brutal tactics as yet another
state-sponsored violence against unarmed citizens.
Members of the movement also
warned that Mr Sowore’s detention — which they deemed illegal and unwarranted —
would bolster rather than dampen a wave of resistance to decades of bad governance
that many believed had worsened under President Muhammadu Buhari.
Grand plot thwarted
Speaking from custody, Mr Sowore
said the demand for his sureties was an attempt to intimidate them into pulling
out.
“Their aim is to intimidate my
sureties by subjecting them to undue maltreatment,” Mr Sowore said. “It is part
of a grand plot to hold me hostage because they have failed to find anything
illegal to pin on me.”
“But we know what they want to do
and we will not allow it to happen,” he added.
Although the SSS has repeatedly
asserted its respect for the Nigerian judicial and the rule of law in general,
the agency has a history of repression, violation of citizens’ rights and
disobedience of court decisions.
SSS was the agency at the heart
of most allegations of attacks on Nigerians during the brutal military eras of
Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha. Several Nigerians were jailed, physically
attacked or killed as Mr Abacha moved to clear all obstacles to his
authoritarian regime.
Despite attempts to reform the
agency as Nigeria attained democracy in 1999, critics say the SSS, founded in
1986, has remained wedded to its brutal and anti-democratic past.
Hale, hearty
Mr Sowore lamented that he had
“not seen sunshine since he was detained except when taken to court.” Only
three people have been allowed to see him since August 3, which includes his
lawyers and the person responsible for his feeding.
Even though Mr Sowore said he
cannot wait to reunite with his associates and loved ones, he said he had come
to a fresh realisation that the SSS would continue to disregard court
pronouncements and would not release him anytime soon.
“Last night, they gave us phones
and cable TV,” Mr Sowore said. “This indicates that they have no intention of
complying with court orders to release me anytime soon.’’
Mr Sowore said he will continue
to fight for the downtrodden, and wanted the world to know that the Buhari
administration has been stifling civil liberties in Nigeria.
“The world should know that I
remain unbroken and in high spirits,” Mr Sowore said. “I will continue to fight
for the Nigerian people, ensure that the people are not shortchanged and
corruption is driven underground.”
“I will continue to stand up for
the downtrodden,” he said.
Mr Sowore said all those who
support him should not be discouraged because the masses will prevail in the
battle against anti-democratic forces.
“The ultimate mission is to
intimidate all critical voices and shut down the nation’s civic space,” Mr
Sowore said. “But this will not happen and we shall overcome.”
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