Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, on Saturday berated the Federal Government following the charges of treason filed against the publisher of Sahara Reporters and convener of the #RevolutionNow protest, Omoyele Sowore.
Vigil360 recalls that the Federal Government had on Friday, filed seven counts of treasonable felony and money laundering against Sowore. The charges were filed a day before the expiration of the detention order of the Federal High Court in Abuja, permitting the Department of State Services (DSS) to keep the activist for 45 days.
In a statement on Saturday, Soyinka said the nation had failed to learn from past experiences.
“This is utterly depressing news. So, the Sowore affair has moved beyond harassment and taken on a sinister direction. Outside the country where I happened to be engaged at the moment, I can testify that the immediate reaction around me was to dismiss this as yet another grotesque product of fake news, of which Nigerians have become the greatest practitioners.
“I confess that I also joined in this school of thought – at the start. Further checks have however confirmed that this government has indeed attained an unprecedented level of paranoia. I do not believe that the Justice department itself believes in these improbable charges, as formally publicised.
“So, once again, we inscribe in our annals another season of treasonable felony, History still guards some lessons we have yet to digest, much less from which to learn. Welcome to the Club, Mr. Omoyele Sowore,” Soyinka said.
Reacting also, Amnesty International describes the charges as bizarre, stressing that they were meant to deprive Sowore of his human rights.
“Amnesty International condemns the bizarre charges pressed on activist Omoyele Sowore for expressing his views in media interviews.
“The trumped up charges he is facing show an attempt by the Nigerian authorities to deprive him of his human rights; Omoyele Sowore continued incarceration on application of the Terrorism Act for exercising his right to freedom of expression is a misuse of the criminal system to silence dissent.
“We call on the Nigerian authorities to respect and protect human rights of all persons without discrimination and ensure that it does not use its laws to justify violations of Omoyele Sowore human rights.”
