Sowore: DSS Acting Within Its Powers – Presidency
The actions of the Department of State Services in the arrest and detainment of leader of the Revolution Now movement has been defended by the Nigerian government.
In a press statement released by the presidency through various media channels, it described the DSS as acting within its powers.
It said, considering the utterances made by Mr Omoyele Sowore calling for a revolution, it was no surprise that he was a ‘person of interest’ to the DSS.
Part of the statement reads: “However, it should not surprise anyone who has followed his actions and words that Sowore is a person of interest to the DSS.
“Sowore called for a revolution to overthrow the democratically elected government of Nigeria.
“He did so on television, and from a privileged position as the owner of a widely read digital newspaper run from the United States of America.
“He founded an organisation, Revolution Now, to launch, in their own words, “Days of Rage”, with the publicised purpose of fomenting mass civil unrest and the elected administration’s overthrow.
“No government will allow anybody to openly call for destabilization in the country and do nothing.
“Mr. Sowore is no ordinary citizen expressing his views freely on social media and the internet.
“He was a presidential candidate himself, who ran – and lost – as the flag bearer of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the February 23 general elections.
The statement continues: “The Boko Haram militants, who are behind the violence, also fancy themselves to be fighting for some sort of revolution.
“Nigerians do not need another spate of lawlessness and loss of lives all in the name of ‘revolution’, especially not one that is orchestrated by a man who makes his home in far away New York – and who can easily disappear and leave behind whatever instability he intends to cause, to wit, Nnamdi Kanu.
“This is a matter for the DSS, acting under its powers” the statement concludes.
The statement however did not make mention of the manner in which the DSS re-arrested Mr Sowore, an act that drew so much rebuke from Nigerians and the international community.
