Peter Obi condemns arrest of Omoyele Sowore, demands immediate release

DDM News

(DDM) – Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Mr. Peter Obi, has expressed deep concern over the arrest of former presidential candidate and activist, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, by the Nigerian Police Force.

DDM gathered that Obi took to his official X handle to issue a strongly worded statement, describing Sowore’s arrest as troubling and unjust.

According to Obi, Sowore was taken into custody shortly after voluntarily honouring an invitation by the Nigerian Police.

At the time of Obi’s statement, no credible or specific charges had been made public against Sowore, a situation he described as casting “a troubling shadow over the nature and motivation” of the detention.

Obi criticised the manner in which the arrest was carried out, pointing out that Sowore posed no flight risk and had presented himself to law enforcement in good faith.

He maintained that such high-handed treatment of a citizen who voluntarily honoured a police summons was both unnecessary and unacceptable.

“To detain a citizen who came of his own accord, without the public disclosure of clear, lawful charges, is not only a miscarriage of justice but an abuse of state power,” Obi declared.

Quoting the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, Obi stressed that justice in the life and conduct of the state is only possible when it first resides in the hearts and souls of its citizens.

He warned that when those entrusted with authority act unjustly, they erode not only the legal order but also the moral conscience of the nation.

Obi therefore demanded that the Nigerian Police either release Sowore immediately or charge him formally in accordance with the law.

“Anything short of this would be a further erosion of public trust in the nation’s law enforcement institutions,” he stated.

The former Anambra State governor further called on all Nigerians, regardless of ideology or political affiliation, to defend the principle that the rule of law must be upheld for all citizens.

Omoyele Sowore, a journalist, activist, and publisher of Sahara Reporters, has been a vocal critic of successive Nigerian governments and has faced multiple arrests in the past over his activism.

His latest detention has sparked reactions across social media, with several human rights groups and political commentators joining calls for his release.

The incident has once again drawn attention to the ongoing debate about human rights, police conduct, and the perceived shrinking space for dissent in Nigeria’s democratic environment.

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