A Nigerian rights lawyer, Femi
Falana, said on Monday that the State Security Service has commenced plots to
bring fresh charges against Omoyele Sowore in order to justify keeping him in
custody.
“An attempt is being made to file
a fresh charge on Tuesday so that there will be an excuse that ‘we are
arraigning them in court, hence we are unable to release them’,” Mr Falana
reportedly said on Channels Television Monday.
A federal judge signed release
order for Mr Sowore on November 6, but the secret police has refused to comply.
Rights activists said the SSS refusal to comply with the order effectively
meant that Mr Sowore was being held in illegal captivity by state agents.
Mr Sowore was arrested in August
for planning a nationwide protest he labelled ‘RevolutionNow’. The Buhari
administration said the planned demonstration was a treasonable act because it
was aimed at fomenting a regime change.
Mr Sowore denied the allegations,
saying his campaign was to mobilise teeming Nigerian youth to denounce poverty,
insecurity and other national challenges assailing the country.
Following Mr Sowore’s initial
arraignment in September, he was granted bail by the trial judge. But the SSS,
a historically repressive internal security outfit over which President
Muhammadu Buhari wields absolute control, disregarded the order and filed new
charges against the Sahara Reporters’ publisher.
The new charges include
treasonable felony and defamation of the president. Mr Sowore denied all the
allegations in court. He was granted bail in October, but the stringent terms
forced him to remain in custody for additional weeks.
He was finally able to meet the
conditions on November 6 and the presiding judge signed a warrant for his
release. The SSS acknowledged receipt of the court order and promised to
comply.
Read also: Sowore: Why Buhari
can’t intervene now – Official
Several days later, however, Mr
Sowore remained incarcerated, raising fresh concerns from Nigerians who accused
the SSS of being adamant to continue its ruthless legacy from the military era.
Mr Falana, who leads the legal
team for Mr Sowore, said top agents at the SSS had been plotting to repeat what
they did to Mr Sowore in September in order to continue denying him freedom.
“If you recall, that was what was
done when Justice Taiwo Taiwo granted Sowore bail on September 24,” Mr Falana
was reported as saying by Sahara Reporters. “For a whole week, the order of the
court was flouted. And then, of course, on September 30, he was arraigned
together with Olawale Bakare.”
“We are ready for them,” he
added.
The senior lawyer’s comments came
as rumours spread on social media that the SSS was hunting for fresh criminal
charges to file against Mr Sowore since it had been boxed into a corner by the
court order for his release.
Mr Falana did not mention the
nature of the charges the SSS may file against Mr Sowore, but he said the
attempt would be resisted until outstanding court orders had been obeyed by the
agency.
Peter Afunanya, a spokesperson
for the SSS, did not return calls seeking comment Monday night.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com