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  • Apologize to Nigerians for spreading fake news on Sowore’s rearrest, APC tells Atiku

    Apologize to Nigerians for spreading fake news on Sowore’s rearrest, APC tells Atiku

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Sunday night accused former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar of spreading falsehood about the event leading the rearrest of the founder of #RebolutionNow, Omoyele Sowore by operatives of the Department of State Services in Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

    National Publicity Secretary of the Party, Mallam Lanre Issa Onilu said on a statement that Nigerians should be wary of these people who are bent on bringing the country down at all cost, saying the former Vice President should apologise to Nigerians for misinforming them about what happened.

    Onilu said available video evidence indicates that the DSS never intimidated the Presiding Judge as being spread, challenging anyone with contrary evidence to come forward with it.

    The statement reads: “Following the recent court drama that greeted the resumed trial of the convener of #RevolutionNow, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its defeated presidential candidate, Alh. Atiku Abubakar has typically chosen to present and spread their concocted “alternative facts” and lies on the incident.

    “The Party will not be drawn into arguments over the powers of the Department of State Services (DSS) to arrest and rearrest Sowore over his actions and utterances. The constitutional mandate of the DSS already addresses that.

    “Also, the presidency has clarified that the DSS does not necessarily need the president’s permission in all cases to carry out its essential and constitutional responsibilities.

    “Again, whether Sowore flouted any of his bail conditions or staged the incident in court is another matter which the court and prosecuting agency should address.

    “Atiku in his horrid statement particularly accused the DSS of attacking the presiding judge among other lies being chorused by the PDP and their hirelings. Documentary evidence such as videos and pictures have shown that the tales are a complete ruse until anyone is able to present contrary evidence.

    “If Atiku’s intervention was sincere, having realized the truth, he has not deemed it proper to apologise to Nigerians for misinforming them on the incident. Instead, he hangs shamelessly on his lies. A commentator has correctly described Atiku as “the king of the bandwagon”.

    “The PDP and Atiku, in their dubious attempt at painting the APC government bad by all means, have chosen to exercise no restraint whatsoever in spreading falsehood. We would continue to reiterate the need for Nigerians to be wary of these people who are bent on bringing our country down.

    “The APC, therefore, unequivocally rejects the inciting messages and criminal antics of some individuals and partisans who have embarked on a campaign of calumny against this administration and are calling for a forceful takeover of government. They are cowards and enemies of Nigeria.

    “We call on Nigerians to look at the issue of Sowore’s arrest and subsequent trial dispassionately and devoid of the skewed narratives and sentiments being propagated by the likes of Atiku and PDP.

    “Sowore contested and woefully lost the 2019 presidential election, garnering a meagre 33,953 votes compared to the winner, President Muhammadu Buhari, who polled over 15 million votes. He left the country afterwards and held talks, with pictures to prove, with another wanted secessionist. He returned to the country and openly threatened to lead a violent revolution against a democratically elected government.

    “Our laws are clear on treason and Nigerians would expect decisive actions from our law enforcement agencies and government. Any attempt to truncate our democracy and threaten our collective peace and safety must and will be resisted using the full weight and instrumentalities of the law.”

  • Nigerians not bothered about Sowore’s re-arrest – Presidency

    The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina said that millions of Nigerians are not bothered about the re-arrest of publisher and convener of the #RevolutionNow protest, Omoyele Sowore and his co-defendant, Olawale Bakare, at the Federal High Court, Abuja, last Friday.

    Adesina said this when he appeared on Channels TV this morning, December 9th.

    According to him, just a few Nigerians are unhappy with the re-arrest and continued detention of Sowore and Bakare.

    Responding to a comment from the presenter that many Nigerians were unhappy with Sowore’s re-arrest in court, Adesina responded “I don’t particularly agree with you when you say a lot of Nigerians are not happy. You know that all this noise has been coming from less than 100,000 Nigerians. And the noise will be so loud that you think it is the whole country. It is a country of 198 million people. When just 100,000 are making noise in the social and traditional media, you would think the whole country is in an uproar. There are millions and millions of people who are not bothered. There are millions of people who know what the issues are. So, you cannot just seek the opinion of a local minority and then conclude that the country is in an uproar.”

  • #RevolutionIsNow: Sowore and DSS many alibis, By Ehichioya Ezomon

    #RevolutionIsNow: Sowore and DSS many alibis, By Ehichioya Ezomon

    By Ehichioya Ezomon
    In an uncanny sense of exhilaration, but with deep concerns for the health of Nigeria’s polity, I was hoping that the Department of State Services (DSS) would “mess” with Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
    That was on Thursday, December 5, 2019, when the judge ordered that Omoyele Sowore (and Olawale Bakare) be freed within 24 hours, topping the directive with a fine of N100,000.
    A proverb of the Esan people in Edo State says, “It’s not on its own volition that the palm kernel produces oil.” And as the Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulopo-Kuti, would intone, “khaki no bi leather.”
    The Justice Ojukwu order wasn’t one for the DSS to forum-shop for interpretation. It’s absolute, decisive, distinct, explicit and obvious, and pregnant with dire payback. Pronto, the DSS released Sowore and Bakare, and also paid the fine.
    Sowore, publisher of online Sahara Reporters and a presidential candidate in the 2019 general election, was arrested on August 3, 2019, two days to the “#DaysofRage” he had called for August 5, to advance his #RevolutionIsNow protests.
    He was charged with treasonable felony, for allegedly attempting, in the mode of the recent Sudanese revolution, to bring down the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
    Thursday, December 5, marked 125 days that Sowore had spent in detention, exceeding the 45 days the court had allowed, and within the period, a couple of courts had granted him bail, which the DSS had spurned.
    It had been excuses from the DSS: It’s either the defendant hadn’t met his bail bond; his sureties didn’t show up to pick him; or they didn’t submit themselves for vetting: all in attempts to subvert the court orders, and the rule of law.
    A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana, who’s Sowore’s lawyer, said that at the end of August 2019, he had compiled a list containing 32 court orders disobeyed by the Nigerian government.
    In an interview, Falana said: “It doesn’t lie in the mouth of an attorney general or the president of a country to choose and pick which orders of court to obey. When you do that, you are reducing the status of the country to a banana republic.”
    This was the situation on December 5 when the DSS came before Justice Ojukwu, and spun another alibi on why it couldn’t release Sowore: It prayed the court for an order to remind him at the Correctional Centre (Prison) in Lagos.
    Rightly, the request, on the back of prior order the DSS ignored, touched a raw nerve in the judge, who ruled univocally, that Sowore be released within 24 hours, and with proof of compliance.
    Considering previous disobedience to court orders, I had looked forward to the DSS, headed by Mr. Yusuf Bichi, conjuring a fresh excuse to shun the directive. But that wasn’t to be, as it had complied with the court order.
    Then came Friday, December 6, and the prosecution and defence lawyers confirmed the DSS compliance, prompting Justice Ojukwu to praise the service, saying, “it was obvious they had demonstrated their commitment to the rule of law.”
    To the judge: “No one is above the law. Those called to govern citizens, in the discharge of what is considered to be their statutory duties, must at all times conform with the rule of law. That is the path to greatness. The DSS has earned themselves the respect of the Nigerian citizens and all the arms of government.”
    But unknown to Justice Ojukwu, who had adjourned the trial to the 11th, 12th and 13th of February 2020, for definite hearing, the DSS had yet an ace to play, swooping on the court, to re-arrest Sowore and Bakare for undisclosed “fresh charges.”
    There’s pandemonium, as it became a tug-of-war between the DSS operatives and supporters to have custody of Sowore, who alleged an attempt on his life in a “choke-hold” by the operatives.
    With the sounds of cocking guns, and Sowore supporters daring the operatives to “shoot,” the judge, lawyers and officials fled the court to avoid collateral fatalities from stray bullets.
    Save the resistance from their supporters, and intervention by Mr. Falana, the DSS operatives were prepared to drag Sowore and Bakare from the court premises they had thus desecrated.
    Falana had to chaperon them from the hallowed grounds, and out of the entrance gate, from where an operative, behind the wheel of Falana’s car, drove the defendants to the secret police office.
    The DSS melodrama has willy nilly firmed the belief that the Buhari government is intolerant of opposing views, and is out to silence its critics by “unlawful” arrest, detention, arraignment, and flouting of court orders to free them.
    Or is the government not aware of the antics of the DSS, whose Director General, Mr. Bichi, and his operatives are acting in the name of the State, and President Buhari’s?
    Officials of government regularly blame the global community, and international organisations, “for distorting and/or spreading false news about happenings in Nigeria.”
    Below are excerpts from some of these bodies on the Sowore saga: The Amnesty International has declared Sowore and Bakare, and a journalist, Agba Jalingo, as “prisoners of conscience.”
    “When we see cases of injustice like this, it’s important to bring the world’s attention to it,” said the organisation’s Nigeria Director, Osai Ojigho, who told the CNN “it’s important that the world stands to demand” unconditional release of the detainees.
    Similarly, The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and prominent figures, including Amal Clooney, co-president of the Clooney Foundation for Justice, have condemned Sowore’s arrest and continued detention.
    “It is outrageous that Nigeria continues to imprison a journalist and presidential candidate after a court has ordered his release,” Clooney said, adding that, “TrialWatch will continue to monitor Mr. Sowore’s trial and calls on the authorities to implement the court’s order as soon as possible.”
    This was before the Friday, December 6 “show of shame” inside the Federal High Court in Abuja. Will the government deny the social media live-streamed incident, and label it as a propaganda piece by outside conspirators?
    The government maybe treating the Sowore matter as a flash in the pan, juxtaposed with the Col. Sambo Dasuki and Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky years-long cases and incarceration. But it’s a little excreta that soils the anus!
    It’s time to halt the DSS escapades, before they did more damage to the image of President Buhari and his government, which should realise that disobedience to court orders destroys the foundation upon which the rule of law and democracy rest.
    * Mr. Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.
  • Sowore:Rule of law dying in Nigeria – Gani Adams

    Sowore:Rule of law dying in Nigeria – Gani Adams

    Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Ige Adams, has described the re-arrest of the publisher of SaharaReporters, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, shortly after his purported release as a national tragedy, saying the situation that played out at the court had only indicated that Nigeria had lost its drift as a democratic nation.

    Speaking at the weekend in Lagos, Aare Adams, insisted that the situation in the country had only justified that the rule of law was gradually dying, while the federal government remained helpless.

    He said: “With what happened at the court, it reminded me of the dark era of the military,but ironically, the present government under President Muhammadu Buhari is liken to the military junta of the late Sanni Abacha,where the military brigande held sway for years.

    “I have been watching events as they unfold, but I am saddened that the event that transpired in the court was a testimony that Nigeria still has a long way to go. The Department of State Services (DSS) failed to respect the rule of law and it was a sad reminder of the military era.

    “This is not the democracy we fought for between 1993 and 1998. I remembered vividly as activists and prodemocracy groups, we put our lives on the line to ensure that our dreams for this democracy become a reality. Now, democracy is here, but we have lost touch with the ideals of a democratic setting as it is practised in other climes.

  • Sowore: Pro-Democracy Group warns US Senators over unnecessary interference in Nigeria’s domestic affairs

    Sowore: Pro-Democracy Group warns US Senators over unnecessary interference in Nigeria’s domestic affairs

    A civil society group, Friends of Democracy and Freedom (FDF) has cautioned some Senators from the United States of America to quit interfering in Nigeria’s internal democracy.

    FDF’s warning treads on the heels of remarks attributed to Senator Bob Menendez from New Jersey in a world press conference on Friday, condemning the rearrest of the Sahara Reporters publisher.

    In the video, the lawmaker appeared to have threatened the Federal Government, alleging that President Muhammadu Buhari is “woefully out of touch with what the agencies of his government are doing”.

    But in a press conference on Saturday in Abuja, the Friends of Democracy and Freedom condemned Mr Menendez and other foreign vested interest concerned in Sowore’s ongoing trial while ignoring his inglorious call for a revolution in Nigeria.

    In a statement signed by its President, Ambassador Joshua Adegbenro, the group believes Sowore’s revolution could be a creation by some foreign entities to cause the country’s disintegration.

    According to FDF, Mr Menendez and his likes must provide answers whether or not Sowore committed any crime in the first instance as well as establish if he attempted to overthrow a democratically elected government.

    The group reckoned, it is only when this is done, Nigerians can begin to take them seriously.

    FDF’s reminded these foreign interests that any form of revolution is a threat to peace and tranquility, and all peace-loving people must condemn it.

    As a sovereign nation, however, the group echoed that rules and regulations govern Nigeria, hence Mr Menendez and others should allow the country’s law take its full course.

  • Sowore’s re-arrest: DSS acted right, no serious govt will condone call for destabilisation – Presidency

    Sowore’s re-arrest: DSS acted right, no serious govt will condone call for destabilisation – Presidency

    The Nigerian Presidency, on Sunday, reacted to the raging debates and harsh reactions that have trailed the arrest and trial of the Convener of ‘Revolution Now’ agitation, Omoyele Sowore.

    It said the government and its agencies would not stand asides, fold their arms and watch another latently dangerous agitation, like the Boko Haram terrorism and the Nnamdi Kanu-led Biafran agitation plunge the country deeper into violent crisis.

    Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, in a statement made available to newsmen, noted that Mr. Sowore, whom he described as “the agitator”, is not just an “ordinary citizen expressing his views freely on social media and the internet”.

    According to him, Sowore, a presidential candidate in the last general election, publisher of one of the most widely read online newspaper, with base in the United States of America, now calling for a revolution to overthrow a democratically elected government, is definitely a person of interest to security agents.

    He also pointed out the fact that the Department of State Security (DSS), did not need prompting from the Presidency to carry out its constitutionally assigned responsibility to arrest situations that are potentially threatening to the peace, safety and security of the country anytime it discovers it.

    He, however, reiterated that there is no serious government or state in the world that will condone anyone or group that openly calls for its destabilization, adding that Sowore, with his base in New York, USA, had no fear of sharing in the tribulation that will follow the sort of incendiary he champion, as he could easy slip out to the country and leave the rest of the country to bear the consequences of the crisis he must have caused.

    “The DSS does not necessarily need the permission of the Presidency in all cases to carry out its essential responsibilities that are laid down in the Nigerian Constitution – which was the foundation for the restoration of democracy in our country in 1999.

    “However, it should not surprise anyone who has followed his actions and words that Sowore is a person of interest to the DSS. Sowore called for a revolution to overthrow the democratically elected government of Nigeria. He did so on television, and from a privileged position as the owner of a widely read digital newspaper run from the United States of America.

    “He founded an organisation, Revolution Now, to launch, in their own words, “Days of Rage”, with the publicised purpose of fomenting mass civil unrest and the elected administration’s overthrow. No government will allow anybody to openly call for destabilization in the country and do nothing.

    “Mr. Sowore is no ordinary citizen expressing his views freely on social media and the internet. He was a presidential candidate himself, who ran – and lost – as the flag bearer of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the February 23 general elections.

    “Nigeria’s democracy was a long time in the making, and was achieved after decades of often harsh, military-led overthrows of government: the kind of situation Sowore was advocating. To believe in and desire armed revolution is not normal amongst ‘human rights activists’, as Sowore has been incorrectly described.

    “Again, it is no surprise that he should be a person of interest to the DSS. Nigeria is already dealing with an insurgency that has left millions of people displaced and desperate in the northeastern region of our country. The Boko Haram militants, who are behind the violence, also fancy themselves to be fighting for some sort of revolution.

    “Nigerians do not need another spate of lawlessness and loss of lives all in the name of ‘revolution’, especially not one that is orchestrated by a man who makes his home in faraway New York – and who can easily disappear and leave behind whatever instability he intends to cause, to wit, Nnamdi Kanu. This is a matter for the DSS, acting under its powers”, the statement said.

  • DSS denies making attempts to rearrest Sowore in courtroom

    …Explains why he (Sowore) was rearrested

    …says co-defendant, Olawale Bakare not rearrested

    The Department of State Services has rebutted what it called “serial misinformation” about what transpired in the courtroom of Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu on Friday, with the agency categorically denying that its men tried to arrest Saharareporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore inside the court.

    In a long statement by the spokesman, Dr Peter Afunanya, the agency said its men were not in the courtroom and that the pandemonium about the imaginary arrest inside the court, was orchestrated by the Sowore crowd, with the intent to bring the agency into disrepute, both locally and internationally.

    The statement hinted that Sowore’s re-arrest on Friday was over a fresh statement he made to some people after his release on 5 December at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja to the effect that he intends to “create anarchy in the country”.

    Afunanya also stated that the Service did not re-arrest the student from Osun State, Olawale Bakare, because it no longer has interest in him.

    Here is the full statement:

    DSS AND THE 6TH DECEMBER, 2019 FEDERAL HIGH COURT, ABUJA INCIDENT

    It has become important that the Department of State Services responds to the serial misinformation being circulated in the media about its involvement in the incident that occurred on 6th December, 2019 at the Federal High Court, Abuja. It is instructive to note that during the court proceeding of the day under reference, Defence Counsel, Femi FALANA (SAN), called the attention of the Judge to a suspicion that the Service was planning to re-arrest Omoyele SOWORE immediately after the court session. The Court discountenanced his alarm and asserted that the Service was law abiding and would not engage in such and subsequently adjourned to February, 2020.

    However, when SOWORE stepped out of the court and sighted operatives of the Service within the premises, he ran back into the courtroom. In a bid to shield him from an imaginary arrest, his uncontrollable supporters mobbed him while chanting “you can’t arrest him” thus the pandemonium that ensued.

    A critical look at the videos in circulation would convince any objective viewer that there was no DSS personnel during the entire period the Sowore crowd acted out its orchestrated drama. Its personnel were never, at any time, involved in the incident. In actual fact, it was his people who seized him. And from the latest developments, it has become obvious what the intent for such mischief was meant for – simply to serve a propagandist purpose as well as bring the Service to disrepute.

    Eye witness and several media accounts have disclosed that the Court had adjourned peacefully without an untoward incident when suddenly the unruly crowd imported into the Courtroom went into frenzy on the mere suspicion that DSS was sighted at the court premises. The eventual re-arrest of Sowore by the DSS was effected outside the courtroom. His lead counsel has affirmed this.

    A critical look at the videos in circulation would convince any objective viewer that there was no DSS personnel during the entire period the Sowore crowd acted out its orchestrated drama. Its personnel were never, at any time, involved in the incident. In actual fact, it was his people who seized him. And from the latest developments, it has become obvious what the intent for such mischief was meant for – simply to serve a propagandist purpose as well as bring the Service to disrepute.

    The DSS, as a professional, responsible and law abiding Organisation, could not have invaded a courtroom including the one presided over by a respected Judge who is not only handling its case but whose Order was unconditionally obeyed within a 24 hour ultimatum. The Service holds the judiciary in utmost respect and will continue to work with it for national peace and public safety in Nigeria.

    It has therefore become unarguable and raises a moral question as to who, between Sowore and the Service, dislikes or disobeys the Courts. In this regard, public attention may be drawn to the 25th July 2019 statement of SOWORE that “I’m not talking of protest. I’m embarking on revolution… Don’t tell me about legal implications or what a Judge will say. I don’t care …” On 5th December when SOWORE was released, he had, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja addressed a group of persons who, he reassured of his cause to create anarchy in the country.

    It may be recalled that the Service had on 3rd December, 2019 raised alarm about a plot to destabilize the country. It is quite remarkable that the plot has already started playing out. To ensure this objective is further achieved, some persons and groups are scurrying to seize the opportunity of the misleading court incident and the wrong narrative against the DSS to organize an insurrection in the country. They have continued to falsely curry and mobilize international sentiments and attention, through clear misrepresentation of the facts, for their selfish ends.

    The DSS, as a professional, responsible and law abiding Organization, could not have invaded a courtroom including the one presided over by a respected Judge who is not only handling its case but whose Order was unconditionally obeyed within a 24 hour ultimatum. The Service holds the judiciary in utmost respect and will continue to work with it for national peace and public safety in Nigeria.

    For emphasis, it should be noted that SOWORE is facing trial not as an activist, journalist or a politician, but for his resort to call for violence, forceful takeover of government and suspected transnational illegal activities. It is most unfortunate that SOWORE, shortly after being released from custody, based on court order, resorted to acts inimical to security. To this effect, only SOWORE has been re-arrested as his co-defendant, Olawale BAKARE, was not picked up even when FALANA had promised to deliver him to the Service that is not presently interested in him.

    Though sections of the populace have been fed with spurious narratives about these developments, Nigerians and the International Community should not be gullible or even vulnerable to the machinations of groups desirous of misleading them.

    The Service is committed to the discharge of its mandate of detecting and preventing threats against the internal security of Nigeria. It supports democracy in the country and will do all that is legal to protect it. It will also ensure that efforts of anti-democratic forces are frustrated.

     

     

  • Presidency accuses Sowore of stage-managing rearrest in Court

    The social media aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, Lauretta Onochie has described the attempted arrest of RevolutionNow convener, Omoyele Sowore inside the courtroom by the Department of State Service on Friday as a stage-managed drama.

    The presidential aide accused Sowore of acting up the drama of being arrested inside the courtroom with his followers in order to blackmail government agents and attract sympathy from members of the public.

    Onochie made this allegation in a post on her Facebook page on Saturday, insisting that the DSS never entered inside the courtroom.

    She said “blackmailing government enforcement agencies was how our nation went into decay. It wont work this time”.

    She narrated what she claimed was a friend’s eyewitness account of what really transpired in court on Friday.

    See her post below:

    WHO DRAMA EPP? EVERY LIE WILL EXPIRE.
    COURTROOM DRAMA EXPLAINED.

    ? So it was a stage managed drama in the court yesterday; Sowore pinned down by his supporters in a courtroom in order to give DSS a bad name.

    ? There was no gun. No batton. No pinning down. Just plain drama, planned and staged by his boys and girls. Kudos, but every lie has an expiration date.

    ? Many EYEWITNESSES have said DSS was OUTSIDE the courtroom, not inside the courtroom.

    ? Here’s one more eyewitness account as reported by Adeniyi Adegbomire SAN-

    ? A friend of mine, Wale Fapohunda, who was in court today when Sowore’s re-arrest was purportedly effected inside the courtroom has this to say about the incident ??:

    ? “Okay, so I was in court today and here is what happened.

    ? The court had adjourned his matter till 11th Feb next year.

    ? The court called the next matter and proceeding had commenced in respect of the next matter.

    ? Sowore stepped OUT OF THE COURT ROOM and suddenly we heard noises coming from the corridor “leave me alone” “they want to kill me” “they want to kill Sowore” and all that.

    ? Suddenly Sowore’s people started dragging him with the DSS and they (Sowores team) dragged him into the court room.

    ? The judge seeing this, rose and went to her chambers.

    ? The DSS didn’t enter the court room to arrest him rather his supporters dragged him in with the DSS official.

    ? Nobody chased the judge out, she rose and went to her chambers on seeing squabbles.

    ? The DSS official left the court room and waited for him outside the court.

    ? Thank you all. Behold my eye witness account”.

    ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
    ? Blackmailing government enforcement agencies was how our nation went into decay. It wont work this time. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.

    ? It appears everyone in that drama was part of the drama club. They harassed a Court officer who wanted them out as they were disrupting another court case. A Lawyer who looked bemused with the whole drama was lost for words.

    ? Drama has not helped Dino Melaye. It has not helped Olise Metuh. Drama has not helped Orji Uzo Kalu.

    ? Drama will not help Sowore because Once you dramatise a lie to the members of the public to attract sympathy, you lose all of that sympathy when they find out you have misled them.

    ? I’m also of the opinion that the police look into these videos, (I have watched four) and charge those who deliberately misled the general public on this issue.

    ? God bless Nigeria.
    Lauretta Onochie.
    @Laurestar.

  • Sowore: NBA rebukes DSS, demands immediate suspension of DG

    The Nigerian Bar Association has issued a strong rebuke of the Department of State Services, calling its arrest of Omoyele Sowore in Abuja Court as assault and desecration of the court.

    National publicity Kunle Edun also called on Nigerians to defend the rule of law:

    Please read the full statement:

    The Nigerian Bar Association is greatly dismayed at the exhibition of primitivity, thuggery, insane passion for lawlessness, contempt and disrespect for the rule of law by the agents of the Department of State Services (DSS) within the precints of the Federal High Court, Abuja while attempting to re-arrest Citizens Omoyele Sowore and Olawale Bakare earlier today.

    Eventually Sowore and Bakare were re-arrested by the DSS inspite of being on bail granted by the Federal High Court.

    Yusuf Magaji Bichi, DG DSS: Agency holding Sowore, Bakare despite court order

    The NBA has been properly briefed – beyond the shameful videos of the incident in public domain- by our members who witnessed the disgraceful and crass violation of the hallowed precincts of the law by the officers of the Department of State Services, an agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

    The NBA finds it disgraceful that this ‘court riot’ occasioned by the high handedness and insensitivity of the security operatives interrupted judicial proceedings and made the Presiding Judge to abandon judicial proceedings because of safety concerns.

    The Nigerian Bar Association strongly condemns the action of the Department of State Security, which is another in the series of impunity and lawlessness exhibited by the DSS.

    The invasion of the court by the agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria runs contrary to the avowed assurances of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that he will ensure that the Federal Government and agencies under it obeys court orders. The disrespect of the court by the DSS is legendary and unrivalled.

    Few days ago, the officers of the Nigerian Police Force exhibited similar traits when it also invaded the precincts of the High Court, Effurun to arrest Mr. Ademi-Akpeto, Chairman of Sapele branch of the NBA. Many Nigerians are still in unlawful custody and not charged to court. Nigerians are now under siege by security agents who have no regards for the law and the courts.

    The NBA urges all Nigerians to be alive to their responsibilities as citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and is ready to partner with all Nigerians and civil society organisations to ensure that the rights of Nigerians as guaranteed by Chapter 4 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended are not trampled upon by by any agency of government.

    The NBA therefore, demands as follows:
    1. That the Federal Government of Nigeria and the National Assembly immediately investigate the shameful conduct by the DSS and ensure that all persons found culpable are duly punished in accordance with the law.

    2. The immediate suspension of the Director General of the Department of State Security from office. We make this demand bearing in mind the fact that the DSS under his leadership has established itself as a brutish and irresponsible agency that derives immense pleasure from violating the fundamental rights of Nigerians and disrespecting court orders.

    3. That the National Assembly should review the laws setting up the DSS and indeed all security agencies in Nigeria with a view to repositioning them to be more responsible and responsive to the public.

    4. That the Attorney General of the Federation, being the Chief Law officer of the Federation takes over all the political cases or cases involving politically exposed persons presently handled by the DSS.

    The above demands of the NBA is without prejudice to the consultations presently going on amongst critical stakeholders in the legal profession and the judiciary on how best to ensure that this sad incident does not re-occur.

    NBA thanks all lawyers and Nigerians who have expressed displeasure over this sad incident. NBA shall keep lawyers and Nigerians alike informed of our further engagements with critical stakeholders.

  • US Senator, Menendez condemns Sowore’s re-arrest [VIDEO]

    Bob Menendez, a ranking member of the United States Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, has condemned the re-arrest of the convener of RevolutionNow Omoyele Sowore, on Friday at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

    Sowore, who was first arrested on August 3, 2019 by operatives of the Department of State Services for calling on Nigerians to take to the streets in peaceful demonstrations but only released on Thursday evening despite two court orders directing his freedom much earlier, was rearrested on Friday by the DSS.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B5xC0S0j7Ju/

    In a statement on Friday, Menendez, promised US intervention in the matter over Sowore’s case.

    He said, “I am outraged by the blatant harassment of Omoyele Sowore, an activist and journalist whose only crime appears to be exercising his right to free expression.

    “In a concerted effort to secure his release on behalf of the Sowore family living in New Jersey, my office has been working closely with the State Department as Mr Sowore’s case languished following his arbitrary arrest back in August.

    “While we continue to seek immediate answers about Sowore’s treatment and conditions in jail, I will be further engaging directly with US Ambassador, Mary Beth Leonard, in Abuja to raise this case at the highest levels of the Nigerian Government so that the Buhari administration gets the message that we are committed to defending Sowore’s rights and securing his release.

    “This blatant miscarriage of justice is symptomatic of closing political and media space in Nigeria.”