As Nigerians continue to call for the release of the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2019 elections, Omoyele Sowore, who was arrested by the men of the Department of State Service (DSS), an eyewitness has narrated how the arrest was forcefully effected at 1:30am Saturday.
According to Thecable, Sowore’s driver claimed that the DSS officials forced their way into the compound of the Sowore’s to carry out the arrest.
The arrest is not unconnected to ‘#RevolutionNow’, a hash tag used to criticize the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration on the social media as the call for a revolution protest slated to begin on 5th August across Nigeria hits the rooftop.
See the statement of Sowore’s driver below:
“At around past 1am, the armed men knocked on the door. I noticed immediately that these knocks were strange. And didn’t open. I looked and I saw men armed to the teeth,” he wrote.
“They started forcing their way in like armed robbers. But I knew they were DSS men, knowing fully well the attention RevolutionNow has garnered. Sowore wanted to open at first but I immediately told him who they are. He retreated and like magic, he was not in the room when they forced their way in- 8 of them.
“That was when he managed to tweet. By this time, I had been beaten and handcuffed. Phones were snatched from me. An order to block all exits came from the leader when Sowore was not found inside. He was later arrested at the gym in a gestapo manner and dragged after a bit altercation.”
“I quickly seized that opportunity to drive his car (I drive him) to block their SIENNA and Hilux they came in. They hit the Lexus Jeep like kidnappers would do to make way for themselves,” he wrote.
“I followed them immediately till we got to CMD road around Ketu when one of them came down from the SIENNA and corked his gun, threatening to shoot me. I had to escape at that point.”
Meanwhile, the National Legal Adviser of African Action Congress, AAC, Mr. Inibehe Effiong has condemned his clients arrest, noting that the force has no right to arrest an innocent man.
His words, “Mr Omoyele Sowore is currently in the custody of the SSS. His phones have been confiscated. This is a panic response from a decayed regime that is so sacred of its own shadow.
“Buhari’s despotism is now in full force. Nigerians are now preoccupied with the shenanigans of a morally bankrupt, economically backward and politically inept administration.
“The SSS which is supposed to be actively involved in curtailing insecurity across Nigeria has been turned into a tool of intimidation for a corrupt, clueless and incompetent government.
“Let it be known that this irresponsible and highly reckless action will not deter conscientious and enlightened Nigerians from fighting for a better country.
The #RevolutionNow Movement has come to stay and no dictator can stop it.
“General Buhari lost election in 2003 and led a massive protest. He lost in 2007 and didn’t go to sleep. When he lost again in 2011, his supporters went on riot, killing people and burning public and private properties.
“Sowore, a respected activist of decades, called for nationwide protests tagged #RevolutionNow, Buharists are saying it’s because he lost election. Sickening. I have said it before, if we depend on Buhari and his supporters to safeguard our “democracy” we will wake up one day to realise that Nigeria is totally gone.”
