The arrest of the convener of the widely talked about Monday 5th #RevolutionNow nationa wide, Omoleye Sowore, by officers of the Department of Security Service (DSS), has been described by the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) as undemocratic, and therefore call on President Mohammadu Buhari, to order his immediate release.
In a press statement signed by the NYCN President, Ambassador Oladele Nihi, the group declare that there was no basis to warrant the arrest of the popular human right activist.
It has been widely reported that Mr Sowore must have been picked up by the DSS prior to the announcement of a nationwide protest slated for Monday, August 5th, 2019 tagged: “start preparing Nigerians for what is to happen and taking our destiny in our own hands”.
According to Nihi, right to protest is a fundamental human right all over the world.
“A government intimidated by such move is considered weak and porous-proof to criticism. Nigerian Youths are forced to believe that the security operatives are only trying to avoid the protest from happening hence the arrest of the group’s mouthpiece barely 48hours to this nationwide protest.
“We wish to inform officers of the Department of Security Service that just as Victor Marie Hugo the French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement said- ‘No army can stop an idea whose time has come’, likewise, no amount of arrest can stop our conscious effort to awaken the docility of Nigerians especially Nigerian Youths.
“Every citizens deserves the right to speak out without fear of intimidation and harassment by security operatives.
“We don’t believe in intimidation as a system of governance. The arrest of Omoleye Sowore is purely an act of intimidation, an attempt to cow citizens and can’t be tolerated,” he said.
