"Sowore’s detention portends grave danger for Nigeria"

The Kalasewe of Apoiland in Ese-Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State, Professor Sunday Amuseghan, has appealed to the Federal Government to release the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore from detention.

The first-class monarch, who described Sowore as a worthy son of Apoi, emphasized he should be released unconditionally because his arrest and continued detention portend grave danger for Nigeria’s democracy.

Sowore, who is the publisher of SaharaReporters was arrested by the operatives of the Department of State Services over a planned protest tagged #revolutionaryNow scheduled for Monday, August 5, 2019 and subsequently accused of a plot to force a regime change in the country.

Reacting in a statement, Kalasuwe said the arrest was an abuse of the human right to freedom, stating that the planned RevolutionalNow protest could not be said to be reasonable since it was yet to be implemented before he was arrested by the DSS.

Kalasuwe, who faulted the rationale behind the arrest, said it was unfortunate that Nigerians usually forgot events and memories of the past.

He said that Nigeria’s problems emanated from the military’s dictatorship and the tendency to gag the press and prevent freedom of speech and expression.

The planned protest, he admitted, would have presented to Nigerians, the needed opportunity to express their feelings to President Muhammadu Buhari. Kalasuwe said that Nigerians were entitled to express their feelings, provided the protest was peaceful and violent-free and it also represented the feelings of Nigerians.

“Not everybody can have access to the presidency in Abuja. This is a democracy, not militarism, where people are cowed and jailed over issues relating to their welfare.

“Sowore is an activist, and he was part of the struggle for this democracy. Therefore, he is entitled to express his feelings and that of Nigerians in a democratic setting.”