Sowore Detention: Occupy DSS Protesters Dispersed
Operatives of Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) on Tuesday dispersed protesters who stormed the headquarters of the service in Abuja to demand the release of the convener of the Revolution Now protest, Omoyele Sowore.
Naijaparry understands that activists and members of civil society organisations stormed the headquarters of the DSS in the morning.
Sowore and his co-defendant, Olawale Bakare, who are standing trial for alleged treasonable felony, have yet to regain freedom since a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered their release last month.
This news medium had reported that Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu had on 4 October granted bail to Sowore to the tune of N100 million and two sureties in like sum.
But the DSS, confirming that it had received a court order asking it to release Sowore, said on Friday, November 8, that nobody had turned up at the Service’s office to take delivery of him.
Spokesman for the DSS, Peter Afunanya, confirmed this in a statement, noting that the court had been properly briefed.
“The Department of State Services (DSS) wishes to confirm that it has received the Court Order for the release of Omoyele Sowore,” the statement read.
“It is important that the public notes that since the receipt of the Order, no person has turned up at the DSS to take delivery of him.
“This becomes imperative for reasons of accountability.
“However, the Court has been properly briefed on this development and the steps being taken to ensure compliance with its Order.
“The Service, under the leadership of Yusuf Magaji Bichi (fwc), as the Director-General, is not a lawless organization and will never obstruct justice or disobey Court Orders.
“It, therefore, affirms that it will do all that is needful once the appropriate processes have been concluded.”
The DSS released the statement hours after Sowore’s lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana, vowed to return to court over the continued detention of his client by the security agency.
He described the action of the Service as utter contempt of court and pledged to seek legal measures against the agency to force it to comply with the bail order.
Sowore was arrested for organising the Revolution Now protest, which the DSS referred to as a treasonable offence.
But Sowore and Bakare pleaded not guilty to all the charges against them.
The President Muhammadu Buhari administration had filed seven counts bordering on treasonable felony and money laundering against Sowore.