The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and Amnesty International have called for the unconditionally release of journalist Omoyele Sowore who was detained yesterday by the Nigerian police.
They made the call in separate press statements issued on Thursday.
In its statement, SERAP said, “The Nigerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Omoyele Sowore who was reportedly detained yesterday by the Nigerian police. Authorities must drop all charges against him.
“The Nigerian police must end the persecution of Sowore solely for the peaceful exercise of his human rights.
“Sowore’s arbitrary detention constitutes a violation of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and the country’s international human rights obligations including under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party.
“The Nigerian Constitution and these legally binding human rights treaties unequivocally prohibit arbitrary detention.
“No one should ever be arrested or detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their constitutionally and internationally recognized human rights including the right to freedom of expression.
“The authorities must immediately release Sowore, end this travesty of justice and uphold the human rights of everyone in the country.
In its own statement, Amnesty International strongly condemned the arbitrary detention of the human rights activist.
It noted that Sowore has been facing ongoing harassment and intimidation by the Nigeria Police.
“The Nigerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Sowore and drop all bogus and politically motivated charges against him.
” The authorities should listen to critics instead of seeking to gag them through outright abuse of power.
“Nigerian authorities must allow Sowore to freely exercise his rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
“Apart from putting him through sham trials based on bogus charges, Sowore has been subjected to series of human rights violations.
“Since 2019, Sowore has been facing arbitrary detentions and unfair trials solely for the peaceful exercise of his human rights.
“In November 2019, Amnesty International declared him a Prisoner of Conscience after being arbitrarily detained for his peaceful activism.
” The case of Sowore shows just how far the authorities in Nigeria can go to silence peaceful dissent”, the statement read.
