By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Omoyele Sowore’s arrest by the police in Abuja for unlawful assembly may inflict more damage on the reputation of Nigeria on the international stage, John Campbell, former United States ambassador to Nigeria, has warned.
Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters, was arrested along with four other activists during a protest tagged #CrossOverProtest on New Year’s eve.
Campbell condemned the failure of the court to grant them bail.
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) says the men have been “reportedly subjected to severe torture and other ill-treatment, and Sowore was left with bruises in his nose and all over his body in an apparently the use of excessive force by the police officers.”
Campbell – now a Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow For Africa Policy Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, Washington D.C. – warned in a piece on Tuesday that the situation reflects Nigeria poorly to the incoming administration of Joe Biden.
He said many of those who benefit from Nigeria’s political economy, including the police, hate Sowore and it may damage the country’s international reputation.
His words: “Instigation for his arrest could have a variety of sources, not necessarily including the presidency. The episode, if not quickly resolved, could further damage Nigeria’s international reputation – particularly among the diaspora living in the United States.
“The incoming Biden administration has signaled that it will be deeply concerned about human rights issues. The arrest of Sowore and the denial of bail is a poor representation of Nigeria to the incoming administration.”
Sowore and the others were arraigned before a magistrate’s court in Wuse Zone 2 on Monday on charges of unlawful assembly, criminal conspiracy, and inciting public disturbance.
Magistrate Taye Maibel ordered them remanded in Kuje Correctional Prison detention until the following day when the court heard their bail application.
But Maibel denied Sowore’s bail application, filed by Marshal Abubakar from Femi Falana Chambers, after the police counsel faulted the submission of a joint affidavit for the five accused persons.
After listening to the two counsel, Maibel ordered Sowore and the others taken to Force CIID in Area 10, in Abuja until January 8, per reporting by PREMIMUM TIMES.
SERAP protests Sowore’s treatment
SERAP said in a statement on Monday that it had sent a complaint to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention over illegal detention and reported torture of Sowore.
“The Working Group should request the Nigerian authorities to withdraw the bogus charges against Sowore and four other activists, and to immediately and unconditionally release them,” SERAP said.
It insisted that their detention “constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of their liberty because it does not have any legal justification. The detention also does not meet minimum international standards of due process.”
SERAP said their arrest, detention, torture, and ill-treatment “solely for peacefully exercising their human rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly” violates both the Nigerian Constitution and international human rights law.
“They are now facing bogus charges simply for exercising their human rights.”
SERAP asked the Working Group to investigate the detention, torture and “bogus charges” against the activists, and “to urgently send an allegation letter to the Nigerian government inquiring about the case generally, and specifically about the legal basis for their arrest, detention, torture and other ill-treatment, each of which is in violation of international human rights law.”
SERAP implored the body to “issue an opinion declaring that the deprivation of liberty and detention of Sowore and four other activists is arbitrary and in violation of Nigeria’s Constitution and obligations under international human rights law.
“We also urge the Working Group to call for their immediate and unconditional release” and to request Abuja “to investigate and hold accountable all police officers and security agents suspected to be responsible for the unlawful arrest, continued detention, and torture and other ill-treatment of Sowore and four other activists.”
SERAP called on the group to request the Nigerian government to award the activists “adequate compensation for the violations they have suffered as a result of their unlawful arrest, arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment.”
