Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), says he has
received instructions from Sahara Reporters Publisher, Omoyele Sowore, to sue
the Nigeria Police Force and its officers for torture.
The senior advocate said this in a message sent to our
correspondent on Saturday.
Falana said his client was badly beaten and subjected to
dehumanising conditions in contravention of the Anti-Torture Act.
“Since Mr. Sowore’s fundamental right to dignity has been
recklessly violated by the police we have his instructions to press for charges
against all the officers who subjected him to physical and mental torture in
contravention of the letter and spirit of the provisions of the Anti Torture
Act of 2017,” he said.
He said from indications, the Nigeria Police Force is
waiting for “orders from above” before releasing Sowore.
“Order from above” is a common term used in Nigeria to refer
to a superior authority.
He said the police were holding his client for alleged
breach of COVID-19 protocols but had denied him bail for two consecutive days
even though the law says such offences are bailable.
Falana further stated that his client had pointedly told the
police that he had not breached COVID-19 protocols.
The activist said, “Mr. Sowore who was covering an event at
the time of his arrest has maintained that he did not breach any of the
COVID-19 regulations. He has been detained indefinitely on the basis of orders
“from above.”
The lawyer said his client had been tortured and locked up
in a detention facility along with armed robbery suspects.
Falana added, “The police officers who arrested Mr. Omoyele
Sowore at Abuja on January 31, 2020, subjected him to severe beating and left
him with bruises all over his body. As if that was not enough he has been
locked up in the midst of armed robbery suspects at a notorious detention
facility called abattoir maintained by the disbanded Special Anti Robbery Squad
in Abuja.
“The physical torture to Mr. Sowore was prolonged by the
refusal of the police to provide him with medical attention. Although Mr.
Sowore’s injuries are being treated by his personal physician, the police
authorities have refused the application of the detainee for bail even though
the alleged offence of breaching COVID-19 regulations is ‘bailable’.
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