the aegis of Third Force Forum, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to
immediately order the Department of State Services to release Omoyele
Sowore.
Sowore was abducted on Saturday by operatives of the DSS for organizing
a protest, RevolutionNow, against bad governance in Nigeria.
The former presidential aspirants and candidates described the arrest of
Sowore as unlawful, positing that he acted within his rights as
enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution.
In a letter to Buhari, the Third Force Forum also urged the president to
respect human rights and adhere to international treaties the country
subscribed to.
The group said, “We must also remind you, Mr. President, that in
addition to the Nigerian Constitution, Nigeria also subscribes to other
international treaties, which prohibit violation of human rights of its
citizens.
“To refrain from adhering to these national and international rights is
to invite anarchy onto the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“As you are fully aware, Mr. President, every democratic government that
subscribes to the rule of law, has time-tested methods of containing any
breach of the peace during peaceful protests; without clamping down on
our fundamental rights of ‘Freedom of Expression’ and to peaceably
assemble, in order to address grievances by the government; even when
those views expressed are contrary to the views of the current
government.”
The forum stated further: “We implore you to immediately order the
applicable agencies of the state to immediately release Mr. Omoyele
Sowore unconditionally, in order to maintain peace in our country, and
to deter further national and international repercussions on this
matter.”
The letter to the president was signed by five presidential aspirants
and two presidential candidates at the last general election.
They are Dr. SKC Ogbonnia, 2019 presidential aspirant, All Progressives
Congress (APC); Hon. Tope Fasua, 2019 presidential candidate, Abundant
Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP); Hon. Okey Samuel Mbonu, 2019 presidential
aspirant, Labour Party (LP); Dr. Thomas-Wilson Ikhubese, 2019
presidential aspirant, Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN); Dr. Emmanuel
Etim, 2019 presidential candidate, Change Nigeria Party (CNP); Dr.
Ayodele O. Favour, 2019 presidential aspirant, Young Progressives Party
(YPP); and Hon. Clement Jimbo, 2019 presidential aspirant, Social
Democratic Party (SDP).