CSOs clash in Abuja over demand for Sowore, other activists’ release from detention

The streets of Abuja was turned to a battleground on Monday when several civil society organisations, (CSOs) clashed over calls for the release of the co-convener of the #RevolutionNow movement, Omoyele Sowore and other persons held in captivity by the Federal Government.

Activists from Amnesty International, Socio-Economic Rights, and Accountability Programme, (SERAP) and other groups had stormed the premises of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for a freedom rally convened to demand immediate and unconditional release of the detained activists.

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However, the groups were confronted by civil groups who held that the continued detention of Sowore by the Department of State Services (DSS), was in the nation’s best interest.

The confrontation by the conflicting groups snowballed into a civil commotion as violence broke out and several activists injured in the ensuing fracas.

Journalists covering the rally were also harassed with their cameras and mobile phones forcefully seized by hoodlums who hijacked the mass action.

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