NLC Demands Release of Sowore, Other #RevolutionNow Protesters from DSS Detention
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Wednesday demanded for the release of the leader of #RevolutionNow protesters, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, and others involved in the protest.
In a statement, the General Secretary of NLC, Mr. Peter Ozo-Eson, said Sowore and others were only involved in peaceful protest and ought not to be detained.
Ozo-Eson said the Constitution does not give security agencies power to attack peaceful protest.
He described the protest against bad government and perceived anti-people government policies as one of the fundamental rights that can help the growth of democracy.
The detention, he said, was unjust as the actions were not a threat to Nigeria’s sovereignty or government of Nigeria.
According to the NLC scribe, “He (Sowore) was just one out of several Nigerians demanding good governance being the minimum demand citizens can make from a government they democratically elected. Mr. Sowore and other protesters were not carrying arms against the state and we therefore demand their immediate release unconditionally.
“It is with deep consternation that we view the attacks and arrests of peaceful protesters in some parts of the country by security agencies and military personnel on Monday during a protest by some Nigerians in Lagos, Osogbo, Ibadan, Abuja and other cities.
“There is nowhere in our constitution or laws that the security agencies are empowered to so brazenly attack peaceful protests and hound its organisers into detention as the right to peaceful protests, assembly and association, is fully guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under sections 39 and 40.
“Besides, peaceful protests against bad governance or perceived anti-people government policies is one of the critical fundamental rights that expands the entrenchment and growth of democracy and our security agencies must not be allowed to continue to portray themselves as anti-democracy forces as the Monday attacks so clearly demonstrated.
“We also view the midnight arrest of one of the organisers of the protests, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, as an affront to his
fundamental rights as well as our collective rights to freedom of expression and association as enshrined in all the international and national instruments that strengthens democracy.”