Nnamdi Kanu: Sowore Narrates Ordeal In Police Custody

Former presidential aspirant, Omoyele Sowore, has accused operatives of the Nigeria Police of beating him and other ‘Buhari-Must-Go’ protesters.

The Sahara Reporters Publisher who spoke on Monday after he was released from police custody said they were manhandled by the security men.

Recall that Sowore was arrested in Abuja after he staged a protest in solidarity with the embattled leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, who is undergoing trial. This was after men of the Department of State Services had arrested some worshippers at the Dunamis International Gospel Centre, Abuja for wearing T-Shirts with the inscription #BuhariMustGo.

However, Sowore after regaining his freedom said: “They have just released us. They dragged, harassed and beat us. They took us to the Federal Secretariat Police Station. I told them that they have no right to arrest me.

“I have a right to observe the trial of Nnamdi Kanu. They took our cards and deleted all recordings.”

Reacting to the arrest, the Coalition of Civil Society thanked Nigerians for putting pressure on the security operatives to release Sowore and others.

Coordinator of the Coalition, Dimeji Macaulay said “We condemn this attack as part of the continuous descent of the country into a brutish state of military repression. It is completely unacceptable, and we enjoin all Nigerians interested in preserving this country’s hard-earned democracy to condemn this attack on the press, on activists and lawyers today at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

“Today’s protest, as a legitimate action, has been heavily repressed by policemen and the DSS that pick protesters into a fleet of waiting “police vans”. This is another example, in a hundred, of the contempt the regime of Major General Buhari (Rtd.) has for the Constitution or the Rule of Law.

“It is this kind of thuggish disposition, which brings state’s force of coercion to bear on peaceful protesters, that represent the government as a Committee of Hoodlums, against every failed effort to pin such description on peaceful, unarmed protesters.

“We demand a public apology from the Nigeria police and DSS for this ridiculous and unprofessional action taking against Me Omoyele Sowore, other journalists and IPOB activists and we ask that proper disciplinary measures be taken on those security officers involved.

“It’s important for you to note that demonstrations and protests are a global phenomenon and are a part of the development of any society.”