{"id":22698,"date":"2019-12-01T03:42:49","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T02:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=22698"},"modified":"2019-12-01T03:42:49","modified_gmt":"2019-12-01T02:42:49","slug":"how-buharis-emissaries-met-sowore-in-detention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=22698","title":{"rendered":"How Buhari\u2019s emissaries met Sowore in detention"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Premium Times<\/strong>
\nRather than direct immediate compliance with a federal court order that freed Omoyele Sowore on bail, President Muhammadu Buhari has instead been sending emissaries to the activist to extract commitment from him to back down on the \u2018revolution now\u2019 protest as a precondition for his release.
\nIn at least two attempts now confirmed by PREMIUM TIMES, the president\u2019s emissaries visited Mr Sowore where he is being illegally held at the State Security Service Headquarters to \u201cnegotiate for peace\u201d in return for his freedom.
\nThe Sahara Reporters\u2019 publisher, however, rejected both attempts as extra-judicial and self-serving, saying he would not take part in any arrangement that would essentially lend legitimacy to unwarranted abuse of his fundamental rights and brazen disregard of judicial authority, people briefed on the matter told PREMIUM TIMES.
\nThe development appeared the strongest indication yet that Mr Buhari is aware of the continued detention of Mr Sowore in defiance of multiple court orders.
\nThose who took part in the botched negotiation included Isa Funtua, a close political\u00a0associate of the president; Sam Amuka, publisher of Vanguard Newspapers; Nduka Ogbaigbena, publisher of Thisday Newspapers and presidential spokespersons, Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu.
\n\u2018Infuriating dialogue\u2019
\nMr Sowore was arrested on August 3 for leading\u00a0#RevolutionNow campaign\u00a0\u2014 a series of nationwide protests he had planned with other activists to demand a better Nigeria.
\nHe was first granted bail by a federal judge in September, but the SSS did not comply and instead took him before another judge to file duplicated charges against him. The second judge granted him bail under stringent conditions in October, which he eventually satisfied on November 6.
\nBoth court orders were ignored and Mr Sowore remained in illegal custody of the SSS, a Nigerian domestic intelligence outfit under direct and absolute control of the president.
\nAs calls mounted on the Nigerian government to respect Mr Sowore\u2019s rights and obey court orders for his release, Mr Buhari hastily arranged a team to pressure the activist into an agreement that would see him abandon his #RevolutionNow campaign before he could be freed.
\nThe first team included Messrs Funtua, Amuka, Shehu and Obaigbena, sources said.
\n\u201cThe first meeting took place in the office of SSS director of operations, \u201d a source told PREMIUM TIMES. \u201cThe group met Mr Sowore and said they came on behalf of the president to negotiate for peace.\u201d
\nBut Mr Sowore, a former student union activist who confronted military regimes and suffered attacks and persecution for it, \u201crefused openly,\u201d saying \u201call he wants is justice.\u201d
\nMr Sowore insisted he would not compromise his demand for a new Nigeria that works for all citizens, a defiance that shocked those present at the meeting, including Mr Shehu who led the team, another source said.
\nPREMIUM TIMES learnt that members of the delegation were \u201cinfuriated\u201d by Mr Sowore\u2019s \u201crefusal to dialogue\u201d with them under the conditions outlined.
\nMr Sowore\u2019s firm repudiation of the president\u2019s delegation also angered Yusuf Bichi, the head of the SSS, who subsequently ordered his continued detention while making him incommunicado.
\nMr Sowore had threatened to inform his lawyer, Femi Falana, of Mr Buhari\u2019s moves, leading the SSS chief to deprive him of all forms of contact with anyone outside the facility.
\nContacted by PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Obaigbena denied ever being part of the delegation that met Mr Sowore.
\nBut another member of the team, Mr Funtua, said, \u201cI went to meet him (Sowore) with Sam Amuka, Nduka Obaigbena and some others. We were there for two hours to discuss with him that there was no need to be grandstanding with his lawyers.\u201d
\nWhen asked to comment on SSS continued defiance of court order over Mr Sowore, Mr Funtua said he was aware of it, but that the state has nothing to lose.
\n\u201cYou cannot fight the government. You cannot fight the establishment. You cannot do anything to the establishment. But for an individual it is a different case and we do not want anyone to suffer for too long, that is why we are trying to find a solution to the matter.\u201d
\nAnother fruitless attempt was made to get Mr Sowore to back down on his agitation earlier this month while the president was vacationing in London, sources said.
\n\u201cThis one was led by Femi Adesina,\u201d the source said. \u201cAgain, he refused to even see Mr Adesina, saying he cannot negotiate with them under any circumstances, especially since he has been granted bail.\u201d
\nTo further punish him for rejecting yet another presidential delegation, Mr Sowore was denied access to his letters and rarely allowed to take fresh air.
\nThe restrictions were later briefly relaxed and\u00a0Mr Sowore was able to speak with PREMIUM TIMES\u00a0from custody on November 14. The phone with which he spoke with this newspaper was immediately seized even though it was given to him by the SSS which discreetly monitored his communications.
\nShedding dilemma
\nMessrs Adesina, Shehu and Obaigbena did not return messages seeking comments from PREMIUM TIMES Friday morning.
\nPeter Afunanya, chief spokesperson for the SSS, also declined comments about the botched negotiation.
\nThe previously unknown but concerted attempts to talk Mr Sowore out of #RevolutionNow campaign underscored not just the suffering of the Nigerian activist but the dilemma his illegal detention and remarkable display of courage have placed on the Nigerian government, said legal analyst Helen Okeka.
\n\u201cThe government is obviously having a sleepless night on this matter,\u201d Ms Okeka told PREMIUM TIMES Friday morning. \u201cIt is not easy to attain a reputation of lawlessness, especially blatant and unprecedented disregard of court order.\u201d
\nMrs Okeka said the officials responsible for keeping Mr Sowore in custody in defiance of multiple judicial pronouncements on the matter are not oblivious of the potential consequences of their roles.
\n\u201cThey know that one day would come when they would have to face the music for this,\u201d the lawyer said from Owerri. \u201cThere are some things you just cannot get away with, no matter how long it takes.\u201d
\nMany Nigerians had suspected the government\u2019s predicament from\u00a0the controversial statements by the SSS\u00a0on why Mr Sowore was still being kept in custody.
\nThe statements, critics said,\u00a0were so weak\u00a0in law, logic and substance that many could not come to terms with the reality that they were issued by the country\u2019s preeminent domestic intelligence outfit.
\nThe efforts were repeatedly pushed as\u00a0Nigerians took to the streets\u00a0to compel the SSS to respect the country\u2019s judiciary and stop seeing itself as above the law. Even though SSS operatives used force against activists and journalists who covered the protests, the demand for Mr Sowore\u2019s release has intensified.
\nInternationally, protests were held in the United States earlier this week for Mr Sowore\u2019s release to enable him to see his young family for the first time in several months.\u00a0Nigerian professionals from leading institutions\u00a0across the world also signed a statement calling for his release earlier this month.
\nRights groups have\u00a0asked the government to obey courts\u00a0in Mr Sowore\u2019s case, with Amnesty International designating him and two orders prisoners of conscience.
\nEarlier this week,\u00a0United States lawmakers joined the calls for Mr Sowore\u2019s release\u00a0and warned that any attempt to further stifle the country\u2019s civic space in violation of international treaties would not be acceptable to the international community.
\nThe Buhari administration also faces a potential clash with the judiciary if Mr Sowore is not released before his scheduled court appearance on December 5 and 6.
\nAlready, Ijeoma Ojukwu, the judge handling the case who granted him bail, has threatened to\u00a0hold Mr Bichi in criminal contempt of court\u00a0for defying her order.
\nIt was unclear how the secret police would explain the disregard of the judge\u2019s order to her. There are suspicions that the activist may not be produced again in court\u00a0as was the case with Sambo Dasuki, erstwhile national security adviser being held since 2015 against court orders<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Premium Times Rather than direct immediate compliance with a federal court order that freed Omoyele Sowore on bail, President Muhammadu Buhari has instead been sending emissaries to the activist to extract commitment from him to back down on the \u2018revolution now\u2019 protest as a precondition for his release. In at least two attempts now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5777,7],"tags":[169,286,170],"class_list":["post-22698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-features","category-news","tag-dss","tag-negotiation","tag-sowore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22698\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}