Atiku Explodes Over Sowore’s Arrest

The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 Presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the arrest of Omoyele Sowore, the publisher of Sahara Reporters and convener of Revolution Now, by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).

Naija News had reported earlier that Sowore, a pro-democracy activist posted a tweet on his arrest at 1:25 am on Saturday, August 3.

Narrating his arrest in a social media post, Sowore’s driver, who refused to disclose his identity, said his principal was picked up in a “Gestapo manner” by the DSS.

According to the driver, “At around past 1 am, the armed men knocked on the door. I noticed immediately that these knocks were strange. And didn’t open. I looked and I saw men armed to the teeth,” he wrote.

“They started forcing their way in like armed robbers. But I knew they were DSS men, knowing fully well the attention RevolutionNow has garnered. Sowore wanted to open at first but I immediately told him who they are. He retreated and like magic, he was not in the room when they forced their way in- 8 of them.

“That was when he managed to tweet. By this time, I had been beaten and handcuffed. Phones were snatched from me. An order to block all exits came from the leader when Sowore was not found inside. He was later arrested at the gym in a Gestapo manner and dragged after a bit altercation.”

Reacting to the arrest in a post on the micro-blogging site, Twitter, Abubakar said the recent “kidnappings in the guise of arrests” must be condemned.

“Freedom of speech is not only constitutionally guaranteed, it is the substructure of our democracy. These kidnappings in the guise of arrests stands condemned,” he wrote.

Freedom of speech is not only constitutionally guaranteed, it is the substructure of our democracy. These kidnappings in the guise of arrests stands condemned. -AA

— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) August 3, 2019