The re-arrest of Omoyele Sowore, the co-convener of Revolution Now protest, by the State Security Service (SSS) has continued to generate reactions from the international community.
Many lawmakers from the United States have increasingly raised concerns over Sowore's travails in the hands of the SSS.
Chris Coons, a US senator on Tuesday, December 10, said in a tweet that he was concerned the Sowore case exemplified the closure of political and media space in Nigeria.
He stated his concern about the continued detention of Sowore, calling on the Nigerian government to respect due process and the rule of law and release the activist "per his bail terms, and launch an investigation into his re-arrest".
Similarly, another US senator from New York, Chuck Schumer, on Thursday, December 12, condemned Sowore's continued detention.
“I am disheartened by reports that Omoyele Sowore—activist, journalist, American citizen—was re-arrested by Nigeria’s government. President Buhari should heed the previous court rulings, and international sentiment, and immediately free Omoyele Sowore now,” he said.
Recall we reported a US senator from New Jersey, Robert Menendez, called for the immediate release Sowore.
Menendez, a member of the US Senate committee on foreign relations, while addressing the media in Washington, said the events surrounding the rearrest of Sowore shows that federal government of Nigeria no longer has regards for the rule of law.
However, reacting to the development, presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, told the US, the United Kingdom and the European Union to stop meddling in the affairs of Nigeria.
This is UK's position on Sowore's detention in DSS custody Adesina said Nigeria is a sovereign nation and “will not be bothered about the reports from the foreign countries.”
