Activist, Omoyele Sowore, has been stripped of any kind of identification a Nigerian citizen enjoys, his news website, Sahara Reporters has revealed.
Such brutal action is reserved for terrorists and not activists. But the news website says its publisher’s documents were deactivated to deny him the means of carrying out legitimate financial transactions.
The government has not offered any explanation for revoking the valid documents of Sowore, which includes his driver’s license.
READ ALSO
UK offers £20,480 salary for care assistants – Nigerians wanted
According to the newspaper, the latest attack on the activist by the Nigerian Government came two days after it published an exclusive story revealing how a hacker had broken into the server of the National Identification Management Commission to steal the personal information of over three million citizens. It also comes weeks after the government attempted to freeze Sowore’s bank account domiciled with Guaranty Trust Bank – a development officials of the financial institution confirmed to Sowore.
Recall that the activist’s account had first been frozen in August 2019 by the Department of State Services, Nigeria’s secret police notorious for violating the rights of citizens, after the agency claimed he received huge funds from the United Arab Emirates to overthrow the Buhari regime.
The allegation was later dropped when the DSS realised Sowore had never been to the United Arab Emirate, Sahara Reporters say.
It added that in December 2021, the activist scored a landmark victory against the DSS over the seizure of his mobile phones and was awarded monetary damages of a N2million.
However, the DSS, it says, has since refused to obey the court ruling, instead of devising different tactics to eliminate Sowore, who has become a thorn in the flesh of the President Buhari administration.
It added that despite accusing Sowore of planning to overthrow Buhari’s government by calling for a revolution, the Nigerian Government has failed to prove its case against the activist in court.
“The government has adopted different means to keep the former presidential contestant out of circulation by confining him to Abuja through a court ruling and constantly harassing him.
“Sowore was first arrested by the DSS on August 3, 2019, for calling on Nigerians to take to the streets to protest against bad governance in the country.
“He was briefly released on bail on December 5 but rearrested a few hours later on December 6 by DSS operatives while appearing for his trial in a case brought against him by the Nigerian Government.
“He is being accused of insulting President Muhammadu Buhari and planning to bring down his regime.
“In all, Sowore spent over four months in detention despite two court orders directing his release on bail during that period.
“Observers around the world including leading legal practitioners have described the charges against the activist as frivolous and laughable,” Sahara Reporters say.
