A civil right group, “Concerned Activists” has petitioned the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) over the arrest and detention of. Omoyele Sowore, publisher of the online medium, Sahara Reporters, who was also the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in the February 2019 General Election, by the Department of State Security (DSS).
In a joint petition signed Ariyo-Dare Atoye and Deji Adeyanju, the group called on the Commission to rise up to its statutory responsibilities of defending the rights of Nigeria citizens.
The petition submitted at the registry of the NHRC expressed displeasure “with your continued silence over the undemocratic incidences that are happening in the country. We are even more displeased by your silence in the face of the alarming human rights abuses considering the consistency of such anomaly under the present regime.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA) has described the arrest of Sowore as clandestine, primitive, and accused the current administration of “lacking the frame of mind to tolerate dissenting voice.”
HURIWA, in a statement yesterday and signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, emphasised the need for the present administration to respect the rights of Nigerians to protest if they feel disenchanted with the scheme of things.
“HURIWA described the arrest of Omoyele Sowore, leading human rights activist in Lagos, pro-democracy campaigner, who was arrested Saturday morning at his home as clandestine and primitive has also demanded his immediate release and public apology by President Muhammadu Buhari.”