Robert Menendez, a US senator
from New Jersey and member of the senate foreign relations committee, says the
events surrounding the rearrest of Omoyele Sowore shows that Nigeria no longer
has regards for the rule of law.
On Friday, operatives of the
Department of State Services (DSS) rearrested Sowore, convener of #RevolutionNow Movement, and
Olawale Bakare, an activist, at the federal high court in Abuja less than 24
hours after they were released on the orders of the court.
There were rearrested less than
24 hours after their release after spending 124 days in detention.
Menendez, who said it seems
President Muhammadu Buhari is not aware of what the secret police is “doing in
his name”, added that Sowore ought to be celebrated and not incarcerated.
He said the development is
unacceptable from a country that practices democracy, pushing for a
reassessment of the bilateral relations between Nigeria and US.
“The United States is watching
and the world is watching. I fear that the blatant harassment of Mr Omoyele
Sowore, an activist and journalist whose only crime appears to be exercising
his right to free expression, is becoming symptomatic of increasingly closing
political and civic space in Nigeria,” Menendez said.
“The Nigerian court has twice
ordered his release on bail. And the state security agencies openly defied the
court order each time leaving me to conclude that either Nigeria no longer
respects the rule of law or President Buhari is woefully out of touch with what
agents of his governments are doing in his name.
“This is unacceptable in a
country that calls itself a democracy. Journalists who risk their lives to
expose the truth should be celebrated, not incarcerated.
“It is unacceptable to that the
husband and father of a US citizen with such blatant cruelty. Today, my office
contacted our ambassador in Nigeria in an effort to obtain answers on what
actions the United States is taking on the Sowore family’s behalf.
“In the next several days, I’ll
continue to engage with the states department in Washington to ascertain the
impart of what the arrest of Mr Sowore and other activists and journalists will
have on our relationship with Nigeria. My hope is that the bilateral
relationship we have with Nigeria will be reassessed in light of these events.”
Last month, the lawmaker had
written a letter to Sylvanus Nsofor, Nigeria’s ambassador to US, over the crack
down on journalists and activists”.
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