A human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) has called on the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), representing President Muhammadu Buhari government to release Omoyele Sowore, the convener of RevolutionNow Movement from the custody of the DSS.
YaahooJournalist reports that the Department of State Services (DSS) had released Sowore and co-defendant Olawale Bakare after spending 124 days in detention.
This followed Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu’s ruling ordering DSS to release the activist in the next 24 hours.
However, the secret police re-arrested Sowore in the premises of the Federal High court, Abuja and reportedly took the activist to the DSS headquarters.
The secret police later denied reports that its operatives invaded the courtroom to arrest Sowore.
The rearrest of the former Presidential candidate drew widespread condemnations both locally and internationally.
Following pressure from the international community, AGF Malami directed the DSS to transfer Sowore’s case file to his office.
YaahooJournalist understands that the directive was contained in a letter dated December 11, 2019 and addressed to the Director-General of the State Security Services, National Headquarters, Abuja, Nigeria’s Capital.
However, Falana, who is Sowore’s lawyer revealed that when two lawyers in Sowore’s defence team visited the DSS headquarters in Abuja to demand the activist release, the DSS advised them to direct their request to Malami.
Falana made this known in a letter to the AGF dated December 13, 2019 and made available to journalists on Sunday.
The letter titled, ‘Request for the release of Omoyele Sowore from illegal custody’, read, in part, “Following the announcement of your decision to take over the case of the Federal Republic of Nigeria V Omoyele Sowore and another, two members of the legal defence team visited the headquarters of the State Security Service on December 13, 2019 to demand the immediate release of Sowore from illegal custody.
“Our colleagues were however advised to direct the request to your office in view of the fact that you have taken over the case from the State Security Service.
“In the light of the foregoing, we hereby request you to use your good offices to direct the State Security Service to release Sowore from custody in line with the order of the Federal High Court admitting him to bail pending trial. We are confident that you will not hesitate to grant our request as no court has issued any remand order for his detention.”
