Foremost civil rights activist, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin in a press release condemns the re-arrest of fellow activist, Omoyele Sowore by men of the Nigerian Police Force shortly after being granted bail by the court, describing it as undemocratic.
The press statement reads:
“Our attention has been drawn to the drama that the law enforcement agency, Nigeria Police Force staged at the Magistrate Court shortly after Comrade Omoyele Sowore was granted bail.
One would have expected that the Nigeria Correctional Service take custody of a defendant that fails to perfect his or her bail. But to our greatest surprise, the police usurped such constitutional responsibility of Correctional Service, it is the most irresponsible and unlawful act of a law enforcement agency.
We wish to assert that the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended), the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Nigeria is a signatory, guarantee the rights of everyone to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
Democratic governance in Nigeria was birthed with the blood of innocent citizens and patriots, whose blood continues to seek for justice, deepening democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
We hereby call on the federal government to follow the rule of law and abide by the decisions of the court to release Sowore and other protesters that were arrested.
There is no democracy without the right of dissenting voices as protest is never a crime. There is a rise in human rights violation in Nigeria and this is antithetical to democratic governance.”
Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin
Centre for Change
