A former lawmaker, Honorable Ehiogie West-Idahosa says the Department of State Service (DSS) treated the convener of the RevolutionNow Protest, Omoyele Sowore unjustly at the court on Moday.
Sowore was brought to court by security operations and was manhandled while trying to engage with his supporters.
While speaking on Channels Tv’s Politics Today, Mr Idahosa said though, giving Sowore’s opportunity to present his case was good, but his treatment was unacceptable.
He said “I think it was nice to arraign him so that he can have the chance to make his case before the court and defend himself. But what was not nice to see was the way he was being mal-handled by the security agencies when he tried to explain the reason why he was in court and to make some clarifications.
“I think that was very very uncivilized. Otherwise, the arraignment is in order and he gets a good chance to defend himself and then, of course, subject himself to the due process of the law,” he said.
The former lawmaker elucidated that it is not a crime for someone in Sowore’s position to grant interviews to the media while in court.
“There is nothing that prohibits that and don’t forget that this is a special trial. This is a trial that is political in nature and the accused person is not just an activist but also a politician with a huge followership in the country.
“So, when you have such a situation, you would have to allow some compromise and allow the accused person some level of communication with those who believe in him and those who share his philosophies.. given the fact that he has been held incommunicado for some number of days.
“There was absolutely nothing illegal about making a few statements to the media,” he said.
The State police arrested the activist in early August after calling for a protest he tagged “RevolutionNow” to challenge the bad governance of the current government.
The government claimed the former Presidential Candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the last presidential election was guilty of treason for stalking the President on social media and instigating insult on the President.
Critism Against The Government’s Violation of Human Rights
President Muhammadu Buhari has come under serious criticism over his violation of human rights particularly continuous crackdown on his critics.
The United Nation Rapporteur had also condemned the way the government used lethal force against shiite’s ground and inability to control the conflicts between herdsmen and farmers which had resulted in countless deaths.
