A group, Yoruba Solidarity Forum (YSF), has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to release the detained Presidential Candidate of the African Action Congress (ACC) and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Mr Omoyele Sowore, even as it urged all Yoruba leaders not to leave the activist alone but speak up against his prolonged detention at this critical period of his travails.
Sowore, who is a publisher of Sahara Reporters and convener Global Coalition for Security and Democracy in Nigeria, was arrested by the police from the Department of State Services (DSS) on August 5, over a botched revolutionary protest, while many of the protesters were arrested in Lagos.
The police had alleged the activist of a plot to force a regime change in Nigeria.
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Publicity Secretary of the group, Olajide Odumosu, made the call on Monday in a release made available to newsmen in Lagos, describing the prolonged detention of the activist in the Department of State Services (DSS) cell as oppressive and unconstitutional.
According to YSF spokesperson, the cases filed against Sowore sets a dangerous precedent for the misuse and subversion of the country’s justice system, declaring that it was an abuse of his human right to freedom.
The group, while appealing to the Federal Government to expedite action on the release and ensure that the activist enjoys his liberty, contended that the planned revolutionary protest engaged in by Sowore cannot be said to be treasonable since it was yet to be implemented before the activist was arrested by the DSS.
Besides, YSF said the botched protest was to express the feelings of Nigerians and since the exercise was peaceful and violent- free, there was no point putting Sowore behind bars for that long period of time, adding that it was time for President Buhari to “put on attire of a democrat” and dump “the robe of a former military man” and for other leaders to learn to be accommodating.
“Nigerians are entitled to express their feelings. They should give him bail, he is entitled to temporary freedom.
“What Sowore did through the botched protest was to express the feelings of Nigerians and in as much as the protest was peaceful, and violent – free, there is no point putting him behind bars for that long period of time.
“It is time for our leaders to learn to be accommodating. It is time for our political class to learn about the best way to handle varying views, especially, that of the opposition parties.
“Democracy thrives when opposition’s views are accommodated and handled maturely. So President Buhari must dump the robe of a former military man and put on an attire of a democrat,” he said.
“We are not in a military regime, where peoples’ rights to freedom and other fundamental human rights were alien to the military.
“Nigeria is a democratic republic, therefore, unlawful detention of a people can lead to further crisis and the Federal Government must try as much as it is possible to avoid this by listening to the cries of Nigerians,” the group warned.
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