The Federal Government has been urged not to be soft with insurrectionist, Omoyele Sowore and others connected with treasonable felony.
The Civil Rights Movement of Nigeria (CRMN) made this plea in a press conference in Abuja on Monday following the arrest of the founder of Sahara Reporters.
The Police had accused Sowore and the Global Coalition for Security and Democracy in Nigeria of trying to force a regime change in the country.
They said inciting Nigerians, home and abroad, to join a planned ‘revolution’ march against the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on Monday, August 5, amounts to treasonable felony and acts of terrorism.
Sowore, a pro-democracy activist and the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the last general elections, had been deluding a critical mass of Nigerians, through various platforms, in readiness for #RevolutionNow, a series of planned protests against the government.
However, according to CCRMNs President, Aaron Dutoye, Mr Sowore had a clear blueprint designed by the major opposition party to overthrow the government, having failed to legitimately do so at the last elections.
To serve as deterrent to others with similar intent of causing havoc, the group, therefore, advised the Department of State Services (DSS) to immediately arraign Sowore for treason.
CRMN further urged the DSS to secure a court order to keep Sowore in its custody once he is arraigned given the gravity of the crime he has committed and the potential instability his release could pose.
Read full statement below:
Gentlemen of the press, the Department of State Services (DSS) heeded the calls of concerned Nigerians and organizations and arrested one of the organizers of the #DaysofRage protests, which also goes by the name RevolutionNow Movement, Omoyele Sowore. The arrest brought to a closure the harassment that he has directed at Nigerians and their duly elected leader.
It is pertinent to note that while there are several known leaders of the planned protests, which has a couple of proscribed groups in its ranks anyway, Sowore has been indiscriminately inciting. He used expressions that suggested protesters will bodily remove elected leaders from office while security agencies will be targeted for attacks to the extent that they will cease to be in existence. There are tweets, video and other documentary evidence to this effect.
Clearly, there has been a coordinated campaign to intimidate law enforcement organizations from doing their job. This included describing Sowore’s arrest as kidnap or abduction. Influential Nigerians have been sold dummies and recruited to condemn his arrest without them referring to his crime. It is legitimate to demand for accountable government but plotting to overthrow a legitimately elected government is certainly not something that any government in the world will accept.
We are aware that Sowore is hoping to pass himself off as an opposition member even though he only scored 33,953 of the more than 28 million votes cast, less than the winner, President Muhammadu Buhari scored in one local government. Some of his international media collaborators are describing him as opposition candidate simply to create the impression that the government is clamping down on the opposition. Sowore’s co-traveller, Atiku Abubakar gave the game away in his reaction to the arrest; he made it obvious that the plot to overthrow the government is the same plan B they had worked on when it became apparent that President Buhari remained the preferred choice before the election.
Law enforcement agencies are invited to note that the other leaders of #DaysofRage protests have vowed to go ahead with the destruction they had planned to carry out across the country even with Sowore’s arrest. They made this stance appear like their own version of defiance but what we have found out is that they believe Sowore would be released without standing trial. They cited several instances to buttress this point. They are also hopeful that there would be enough public criticism to dissuade the government from pressing charges.
Such outcome will not be in the interest of the country as it will encourage anarchists and fascists to keep attempting to overthrow the government. If this continues it is a matter of time before they succeed especially as they are teaming up with foreign agents of destabilization in this destructive plot.
The best deterrence is to send a strong message to all the anti-democratic forces in the country that there is no room for anyone that may wish to destroy our dear country. Example must be made of those that are attempting to derail our democracy for failed politicians. This is our suggestion for dealing with detractors of Nigeria and enemies of our democracy.
We demand that the Department of State Services (DSS) immediately arraigns Omoyele Sowore for treason to serve as deterrent to others with similar intentions, and that includes the foreign agents in Nigeria. The Service must ensure that it secures an order from the court to make him remain in custody once he is arraigned given the gravity of the crime he has committed and the risk his type poses to stability in the country.
Since those goading Sowore to prison are pleading freedom of speech, an arraignment in court will provide him the chance to convince the court that this was the case and where he fails he can be rest assured that his tenancy will be guaranteed at whatever prison he is assigned to.
Those that are threatening to cause mayhem to demand Sowore’s release and those threatening to press ahead with the protests should note that that same fate awaits them because there are specific laws that are being violated.
In view of the confidence being expressed by Sowore and his associates about how they are above the law of Nigeria, we urged the government to engage international partners on why they should stay off its domestic affairs for which there is an adequate legal framework.
