- Atiku Condemns Sowore’s Arrest, Demands Immediate Release
- He urges Tinubu to order Sowore’s and other protesters’ release.
Atiku warns that Nigeria’s democracy is at risk under growing repression.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately order the release of human rights activist and SaharaReporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, who was arrested in Abuja on Wednesday.
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EKO HOT BLOG reports that.Sowore was reportedly apprehended by security operatives at the Federal High Court, Abuja, shortly after meeting with the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu. His arrest came just days after he led a nationwide protest tagged #FreeNnamdiKanuNow on October 20, demanding Kanu’s unconditional release.
The protest was disrupted by security operatives who fired teargas to disperse demonstrators. Several individuals, including Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, and his brother, Emmanuel Kanu, were arrested. Sowore, who initially escaped during the protest, was later taken into custody at the Federal High Court on October 23.
Reacting to the development, Atiku, in a statement shared on his social media handle, condemned the arrest, describing it as a shameful act and an attack on democracy. He said the Tinubu administration’s growing intolerance for dissent and opposition is dangerous for Nigeria’s democratic future.
Atiku wrote, “I am shocked and disappointed, but not surprised, that decades after we defeated military rule, dissent is still treated as a crime. Those in power today once thrived on protests, yet now they suppress them. Sowore’s arrest inside a courtroom is a new low — an open assault on democracy and a grave symbol of this administration’s contempt for the rule of law.”
The former Vice President urged the Federal Government to immediately and unconditionally release Sowore and all other detained protesters, insisting that peaceful protest remains a constitutional right. “Democracy cannot coexist with tyranny,” he warned.
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