Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Former All Progressives Congress (APC) Deputy National Publicity Secretary Timi Frank has objected to last Friday’s storming of an Abuja Federal High Court by personnel of the Department of State Services (DSS) to re-arrest #RevolutionNow convener Omoyele Sowore.
Frank, a political activist, responding to the action of the DSS, call it an act of “dictatorship” and “impunity” by the Buhari administration.
Condemning the incident, Frank urged Nigerians to brace up for what he called a total disregard for the rule of law and abuse of the fundamental human rights of Nigerians by the Buhari administration.
He insisted that what happened in court last week was a consummation of a complete annexation of both the legislature and the judiciary by Buhari-led executive.
Related: Drama in court as DSS re-arrests Sowore, Bakare
Frank stated:
“We have seen the DSS invade the home of Justices at midnight. We have seen the invasion of the National Assembly by the DSS. We have seen the sack of a Chief Justice of Nigeria by this administration.
“We have seen the hand picking of Presiding Officers for the 9th National Assembly. What further evidence do we need to conclude that this is total dictatorship and reign of impunity rather than democracy and rule of law?” he asked.
Frank said that Sowore’s situation reflects the greater ordeal Nigerians have been facing since 2015 and will continue to face under the Buhari presidency.
He warned that the current push to pass the Social Media and Hate Speech bills is a direct conspiracy between the executive and legislature to criminalise rightful dissent in the face of unlawful government practices.
“Why has the National Assembly not introduced a bill to hang looters? They cannot do this because they know some of their members and those in the executive will be the first victims of such a law.
“They are after the common man on the street who may be dissatisfied with their dictatorial style and kleptomaniac tendencies,” he stated.
He wondered why the Presidency was quick to condemn the attack on the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi in Spain but failed to condemn the renewed assault against the judiciary by operatives of the DSS.
He further queried why the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the Attorney-General of the Federation have failed to censure what he called an invasion on a court of law.
“The invasion of Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu’s court and attempts to surreptitiously deal with the learned Justice for granting Sowore bail must be condemned by all,” he said
He accused the President of desperation to hang on to power at all cost, even if it means the declaration of martial law and the total subjugation of the people.
“After the total pacification of Nigerians through the gagging of the media with the Hate Speech and Social Media laws, Nigeria will become a police state where inalienable freedoms will be completely suspended,” Frank warned.
“The people are being bludgeoned into silence by security forces. Very soon it would be a silence of the grave, if care is not taken.”
He urged Nigerians to speak up or risk a worsening situation.
“While US Senators have joined in helping to preserve democracy in Nigeria by their strong condemnation of the court invasion and re-arrest of Sowore by the DSS, our own ‘rubber stamp’ legislature has not deemed it fit to stand up for democracy in the country,” he lamented.
Frank called on the United States and the European Union to prevail on China and other international financial institutions to stop granting loans to Nigeria.
“Lovers of democracy across the world must not keep silent and watch democracy in Nigeria go down the drain of dictatorship once again,” the activist said.