Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has faulted the arrest of Omoyele Sowore over the planned “Revolution Now” rally scheduled for Monday to protest the deplorable state of the nation.
Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, was arrested by the Department of State Services, DSS, on Saturday ahead of the rally.
In a statement issued by Soyinka on Sunday, he said there was nothing to indicate that the rally which Sowore was arrested over was meant to be a forceful take over of government.
According to him, the arrest of Sowore was a violation of his fundamental human right.
He argued that protests were democratic ways of drawing the attention of the government to the issues requiring urgent attention.
“Beyond the word ‘revolution’, another much mis-used and misunderstood word, nothing that Sowore has uttered, written, or advocated suggests that he is embarking on, or urging the public to engage in a forceful overthrow of government,” he said.
He added: “I therefore find the reasons given by the Inspector-General, for the arrest and detention of this young ex-presidential candidate totally contrived and untenable, unsupported by any shred of evidence.
“This is all so sadly déjà vu. How often must we go through this wearisome cycle? We underwent identical cynical contrivances under the late, unlamented Sani Abacha, when he sent storm-troopers to disrupt a planning session for a similar across-nation march at Tai Solarin School, Ikenne.
“The same pattern Pavlovian conduct manifested itself under yet another supposed democratic ruler who personally declared that the gathering of civilians to deliberate on, and propose a constitution for the nation was ‘high treason’. And yet again, even a faceless cabal under yet another civilian regime refused to be left out of the insensate play of power.”
