Amnesty International Asks FG To Drop Charges Against Sowore, Others

Global human rights organisation, Amnesty International has
condemned the arrest of the convener of the #RevolutionNow
movement, Omoyele Sowore, and four others.

In a series of tweets on Saturday, it called for the immediate
release of the activists and demanded that the charges against them
be dropped.

The group said Sowore and others were unlawfully arrested on
Friday last week for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom
of assembly and expression.

It accused the Nigerian government of using delay tactics to
frustrate the bail applications of the activists who have spent
eight days in detention.

According to Amnesty, the detention is arbitrary and has shown a
continued pattern of repression by the authorities.

A Frustrated Bail?
Sowore had in a tweet called for a crossover protest, asking
Nigerians to pick up a candle and a placard showing their
grievances against the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

He and others later staged a protest, an action that led to
their arrest by security operatives.

On Monday, the government arraigned Sowore and others at the
Magistrate Court sitting in the Wuse area of Abuja, the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT).

They were brought to the court on three charges bordering on
criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, and an attempt to incite
others.

While the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges against
them, the court ordered that they should be remand at the Kuje
Correctional Centre pending when their formal bail application
would be heard on Tuesday.

At the resumed sitting, Sowore complained to the court that they
were denied food and medical attention at the correctional
centre.

This prompted the court to order the defendants to be remanded
at the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department
(CIID) facility.

After listening to the application for bail moved by the
defendants’ lawyer, Chief Magistrate Mabel Segun-Bello adjourned
until January 8 for the ruling.

But Friday’s sitting suffered a setback after the police failed
to produce Sowore and the other defendants in court.

Global human rights organisation, Amnesty International has
condemned the arrest of the convener of the #RevolutionNow
movement, Omoyele Sowore, and four others.

In a series of tweets on Saturday, it called for the immediate
release of the activists and demanded that the charges against them
be dropped.

The group said Sowore and others were unlawfully arrested on
Friday last week for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom
of assembly and expression.

It accused the Nigerian government of using delay tactics to
frustrate the bail applications of the activists who have spent
eight days in detention.

According to Amnesty, the detention is arbitrary and has shown a
continued pattern of repression by the authorities.

A Frustrated Bail?
Sowore had in a tweet called for a crossover protest, asking
Nigerians to pick up a candle and a placard showing their
grievances against the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

He and others later staged a protest, an action that led to
their arrest by security operatives.

On Monday, the government arraigned Sowore and others at the
Magistrate Court sitting in the Wuse area of Abuja, the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT).

They were brought to the court on three charges bordering on
criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, and an attempt to incite
others.

While the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges against
them, the court ordered that they should be remand at the Kuje
Correctional Centre pending when their formal bail application
would be heard on Tuesday.

At the resumed sitting, Sowore complained to the court that they
were denied food and medical attention at the correctional
centre.

This prompted the court to order the defendants to be remanded
at the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department
(CIID) facility.

After listening to the application for bail moved by the
defendants’ lawyer, Chief Magistrate Mabel Segun-Bello adjourned
until January 8 for the ruling.

But Friday’s sitting suffered a setback after the police failed
to produce Sowore and the other defendants in court.