The #RevolutionNow coalition on Wednesday simultaneously
held a peaceful protest in Lagos, United Kingdom and Italy against the continued detention of Omoyele Sowore, Adebayo Olawale and Agba Jalingo.
Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African
Action Congress (AAC) in the 2019 general election and founder of Sahara
Reporters, was arrested for allegedly planning to convene a nationwide protest
tagged: #RevolutionNow.
Despite his arrest on the scheduled date, the
protest held in some cities in Nigeria, including Lagos.
It was however marred as it was hijacked by hoodlums
and invasion by the police, leading to the death of one and arrest of many.
While Sowore was arrested on August 3, Olawale was
arrested on August 5 for allegedly participating in #RevolutionNow protest; and
Jalingo, a journalist, who was arrested on August 22, has since been charged
with treason.
The protesters in UK took their grievances to the
Nigerian High Commission, while those in Italy stormed the Nigerian Consulate
to make their demands known.
It was gathered that the protest would also hold
today at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United State.
According to the group, the protest was part of the
global action to demand the unconditional release of those detained without
trial.
Although the protest was peaceful in UK and Italy, in
Lagos was almost marred when policemen from the state command laid siege at the
premises of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Ikeja.
The protest demanding Sowole’s release was billed to
kick off from CDHR premises at about 10a.m. yesterday but the deployment of 50
policemen in 10 trucks put a temporary stop to that.
As at press time, the protesters were finally able
to carry on their peaceful protest at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.
A top CDHR official, who spoke to journalists on the
condition of anonymity, said the security operatives stormed the premises at 7a.m.
In a statement signed by the group’s Co-convener,
Olaseni Ajai, he noted that the police invasion of the protest venue was a
signal of darker days ahead.
According to him, "Early in the morning, the
police and other security forces invaded the national office of the CDHR and
Sahara Reporters Offices, in another desperate attempt to forcefully stop the
planned peaceful agitation against the detention of activists without trial.
"The CDHR is a human rights organisation and
the Sahara Reporters is a media agency. That their offices could be invaded and
sealed in this Gestapo- like manner this morning in anticipation of a protest
only confirms that the civil rights fought for over the years are crudely being
removed by the government.
"The right to speech, associate, protest and
even to think is no more guaranteed under this neo-regime.
"However, our agitation for the immediate
release of Sowore, Jalingo, Olawale (Mandate) and all others currently being
held in Buhari’s detention centres, and for the revolutionary transformation of
the country continues."
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations
Officer, Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, debunked allegations
that the command deployed police to forestall the protesters.
He said: “I am not aware that anyone wanted to
protest and police prevented them. What I am aware of is that we had a deployment
of police around Lagos.
“The police were primarily deployed to forestall
breakdown of law and order across the state, and not to stop any protesters as
alleged.”
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