SOWORE’s RE-ARREST: It’s extremely embarrassing, never happened in Nigeria’s history ―Falana

A human rights lawyer and counsel to Omoyele Sowore, Femi Falana, has described as embarrassing and unprecedented, the action the Department of State Security (DSS) put up on Friday, when it rearrested the RevolutionNow convener Omyele Sowore and Olawale Bakare.

The DSS had stormed a Federal High Court in Abuja, allegedly disrupted court proceedings in efforts to re-arrest the duo, barely 24 hours after it released them from its custody.

Following the Thursday order of Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu that the DSS must release Sowore and his co-accused within 24 hours, the secret police freed them on Thursday night, but returned to court Friday morning to re-arrest them.

Falana, who narrated what happened, when he spoke to Channels Television on the development said:

“The atmosphere was very rowdy, but I insisted that the arrest could not be carried out within the precinct of the court. He was going to be arrested outside the premises but there was a crowd that resisted the arrest, but I appealed to everybody and asked Sowore to jump into my car and so we drove to the office of the SSS because they said he will just answer a few questions, but now he is being detained.

“We are going to take steps under the law by asking for his release again since they are claiming this is a fresh arrest.

“Nobody has disclosed yet what his charges are; he couldn’t have committed any other offence because he has been detained for the past four months unless the SSS wants to tell the whole world that he committed this fresh offence while in their custody.

Further speaking on the matter he said, “This morning, the SSS lawyers and the lawyers of the Attorney-General reported to the court that the order of the court had been complied with and I confirmed because our clients were released last night.

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“As soon as the court adjourned the matter to February next year, the SSS operatives pounced on the court, disrupted proceeding and then attempted to arrest our clients even in the web of the court, that was extremely embarrassing because it has never happened in Nigeria where you enter a court to arrest anybody, even an alleged coup plotter.”

The Federal Government is prosecuting Sowore and Bakare on seven counts bordering on conspiracy to commit treasonable felony, money laundering and cybercrimes, amongst others.

The DSS arrested and detained them on August 3.

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