Professor Wole Soyinka has warned the Department of State
Services, DSS, to stop the charade and display of ''crude and naked power'' by
releasing the Convener, #RevolutionNow protest, Omoyele Sowore still being kept
in their custody despite meeting his stringent bail conditions.
Operatives of the DSS had on Tuesday fired gun shots and
used pepper spray to disperse protesters who were gathered around the service
headquarters to demand for the release of Sowore.
According to a report by PM News, Soyinka, in a statement he
personally issued late Tuesday night also said it should become abundantly
clear by now that Civil Society Organisations, committed to the entrenchment of
the Rule of Law and the defence of fundamental human rights must come together.
Read the statement below
“This is not a new cry. They must meet, debate, and embark
on a binding pact of tactical responses whenever these two pillars of civilized
society are besieged by the demolition engines of state security agencies. The
sporadic, uncoordinated responses as in the case of Omoyele Sowore, the absence of a solid
strategy, ready to be activated against any threat these continue to enable
these agencies in their mission to enthrone a pattern of conduct that openly
scoffs at the role of the judiciary in national life.
“Result? A steady entrenchment of the cult of impunity in
the dealings of state with the citizenry both individuals and organizations.
The level of arrogance has crossed even the most permissive thresholds. It is
heart-warming to witness the determined efforts of “Concerned Nigerians” in
defence of these rights,” he said.
“Why the desperation? The answer is straightforward: the
government never imagined that the bail conditions for Sowore would ever be
met. Even Sowore’s supporters despaired. The bail test was clearly set to
fail! It took a while for the projection
to be reversed, and it left the DSS floundering.
“That agency then resorted to childish, cynical lies. It
claimed that the ordered release was no longer in their hands, but in Sowore’s
end of the transfer. The lie being exploded, what next? Bullets of course,” he
said.
“As I remarked from the onset, this is an act of government
insecurity and paranoia that merely defeats its real purpose. And now –
bullets? This is no longer comical.
Perhaps it is necessary to remind this government of precedents in other lands
where, even years after the event, those who trampled on established human
rights that generate homicidal impunity are called to account for abuse of
power and crimes against humanity.
“The protests for Sowore’s release go beyond only acts of
solidarity, they are manifestations of the judgment and authority of courts of
law, under which this nation is supposedly governed. Either it is, or it isn’t.
The answer stares us all in the face. The principles that now fall under threat
implicate more than one individual under travail. They involve the very
entitlement of a nation to lay claim to membership of any democratic, humanized
union,” he said.
“Enough of this
charade, nothing more than a display of crude, naked power. Release Omoyele
Sowore and save us further embarrassment in the regard of the world. An apology
to the nation by the DSS and the judiciary would also not be out of place. It
would go some distance in redeeming the image of an increasingly fascistic
agency and reduce the swelling tide of public disillusionment. “Let the rule of law reign. Failing that,
have the honesty to proclaim the death of ordered society. Then we’ll all know
just where we stand.”
