The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has reacted to the rearrest and physical assault of the Convener of #RevolutionNow protest, Omoyele Sowore, by Nigeria’s secret police and called on the United States President, Mr Donald Trump, to intervene.
The group’s letter sent on Saturday to Trump was triggered by the alleged invasion of courtroom and intimidation of Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu.
About 15 armed operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS) had on friday stormed the courtroom of an Abuja Federal High Court causing pandemonium and physically assaulting Sowore.
Condemning the action of DSS in its entirety, SERAP said: “The appalling invasion of the courtroom and the ill-treatment of Sowore and Bakare is a blatant attack on the rule of law and the sanctity and integrity of our justice system.
“An independent judiciary, free from intimidation and harassment is a basic precondition to a functioning democracy under the rule of law.
“The violent re-arrest of Sowore and Bakare right inside the courtroom is a textbook case of a mockery of justice and abuse of the judicial process.
“It drives home the failure of the Nigerian government to fulfill its constitutional and international human rights obligations to respect citizens’ human rights and observe the rule of law.’’
It, therefore, solicited the intervention of Trump, clarifying that Sowore is a husband to a U.S. citizen which compels him (Trump) to act.
