The Department of State Services
(DSS) says it is ready to release Omoyele Sowore, convener of RevolutionNow
Movement.
Sowore was arrested in Lagos on
August 3 and subsequently flown to Abuja where he has been detained.
A federal high court in Abuja had
granted him bail but the activist is yet to regain freedom even after
fulfilling his bail conditions.
This had prompted a nationwide
outrage. Protesters converged on the DSS headquarters of the agency on Tuesday
to demand his release.
During the protest, some security
agents clashed with Sowore’s supporters. Pictures showing the security
operatives pointing guns at the protesters went viral on social media.
But reacting in a statement on
Wednesday, Peter Afunanya, spokesman of the DSS, said operatives of the agency,
did not open fire on protesters but prevented them from forcefully breaking
into the agency to release Sowore.
“The DSS wishes to state that its
operatives did not open fire on alleged protesters who had stormed its facility
on 12th November, 2019,” he said.
“As a normal global security
practice, the operatives stood in defence of their facility when some group of
persons made unruly attempts to forcefully break into the place and effect the
release of Omoloye SOWORE.
“Despite serial and unwarranted
provocations, the Service, as a professional and responsible Organisation, did
not shoot at the so called protesters. It could not have done so.
“For emphasis, the Service
reiterates its avowed readiness to release SOWORE once the processes are
concluded.”
Afunanya said those who have
offered to take delivery of Sowore are not qualified to do so.
He said while some people were
politicising the detention of the activist, others are using it as an avenue to
launch smear campaign against the agency.
“While all those that have so far
shown up are not directly concerned with the matter and therefore unqualified,
many others have either chosen to grandstand or politicise it to achieve hidden
interests,” he said.
“In the last few days, the
Service has continued to witness deliberate campaigns of calumny, threats and
aspersions against it. It will not, for any reason, join issues with its
mudslingers. The media is called upon to be neutral and remain champions of the
truth.
“It is only appropriate that those
who stood surety for SOWORE present themselves and have him released to them.
It is even more disappointing that Femi FALANA, who is a senior lawyer, would
wrongly guide his client and supporters. He is rather playing to the gallery
and mobilizing miscreants to subvert the Service and other state authorities.
He has excellent relationship with the DG SS. But in the circumstance, he has
refused to reach out to him over the case like he had on previously related
ones.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the
Service restates its commitment to the rule of law and particularly respect to
the Court. It, therefore, calls for calm but states that it will not be
intimidated or harassed into hasty actions.”
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