Omoyele Sowore, who is the
convener of #RevolutionNow movement, has been detained by the Department of
State Services (DSS) since Saturday.
Femi Falana, a senior
advocate of Nigeria (SAN), says the government will be making a mistake if it
files charges against Omoyele Sowore.
The DSS had accused him of
threatening public peace and safety with his planned nationwide protest.
But speaking at an event
organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) on Tuesday,
the senior lawyer who though did not mention President Muhammadu Buhari’s name
directly, said Sowore had briefed him from detention that in the case he would
be charged, his first witness would be someone in government who in 2011 also
called for a revolution.
Then a presidential
candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Buhari had called for a
revolution in Nigeria – although through an electoral process.
Sowore, according to
Falana, refused to write a statement, insisting the DSS allow him to speak with
his lawyer.
“I do hope that the
government will not be stupid to charge Sowore. In fairness to them (DSS), they
gave him a telephone to phone me. Of course I knew they were monitoring the
phone, and I told him I hope they won’t charge you, because if they do, some of
the people in government will be our witnesses,” he said.
“You know why? One of them,
I won’t mention his name. In 2011, he asked Nigerians to learn from the
Egyptian revolution and be ready for a revolution in Nigeria. So, he will be my
first witness.
“The late Chief Gani
Fawehinmi and four other people were charged with treasonable felony by the
Ibrahim Babangida junta. I was one of them. We were detained in Kuje prison for
two months. We were taken to the court, and what was the offence? I think we
went beyond Sowore. We posted thousands of posters across the country, that
Babangida must go. That was the treasonable felony.”
Falana, who stood in
defence alongside Fawehinmi, said they argued that the then military president
did not come to office through constitutional means.
He added that those in
government now harassing Nigerians with treason would someday, too, be tried
for treason.
It is not clear if Sowore
will be charged as Peter Afunanya, DSS spokesperson is yet to respond to
messages seeking development on the matter.
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