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\nThe UK, US, EU have expressd reservations at the invasion of a court by agents of the State Security Service (SSS) to arrest newspaper publisher, Omoyele Sowore; deteriorating human rights issues; and disobedience of court orders.
\nUS senator, Robert Menendez, appearing with Sowore’s wife, Opeyemi, last Saturday in a viral video, strongly criticised the court invasion and treatment of Sowore.
\nFears are already been raised that the cacophony of noise by these countries and members of influential US Senate Foreign Relations Committee forebodes bad news for foreign relations.
\nAn online newspaper, Premium Times reported that on Tuesday, Chris Coons, a U.S. senator spoke out about Mr Sowore\u2019s re-arrest. Mr Coons is the Vice-Chair of the Senate Ethics Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations.
\nHe said in a tweet\u00a0that he is \u201cconcerned that this case is representative of closing of political and media space in Nigeria. Civil society leaders and human rights defenders should be celebrated, not persecuted, in Nigeria and around the world.\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019m deeply concerned by the harassment and repeated detainment of Nigerian activist, journalist, and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore. I urge Nigerian security services to respect due process and the rule of law, release Sowore per his bail terms, and launch an investigation into his re-arrest.\u201d
\nAgain on Thursday, a senator from New York, Chuck Schumer, asked Mr Buhari to honour previous court rulings. He also\u00a0expressed dissatisfaction over Mr Sowore\u2019s continued detention.
\n\u201cI am disheartened by reports that Omoyele Sowore\u2014activist, journalist, American citizen\u2014was re-arrested by Nigeria\u2019s government. President Buhari should heed the previous court rulings, and international sentiment, and immediately free Omoyele Sowore now.\u201d
\nBut responding on a television programme, President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, said
\n\u201cWe are not answerable to either the U.S. or the UK or the EU; we are Nigeria, a sovereign country,\u201d Adesina told Channels TV.
\n\u201cThose countries and entities have issues of their own; let them deal with their issues. Let Nigeria also deal with her internal issues. We are not answerable to them.\u201d
\nOn Nigerians commenting on Sowore’s ordeal, he said, \u201cThe President knows the truth about what is happening in the country, so there is no need for any worry or agitation.
\n\u201cBut the question is who are these Nigerians and how many are they among about 200 million people?
\n\u201cWho are they? A tiny but vocal minority who will always complain. If they mistakenly get to heaven they will complain about conditions in heaven.\u201d
\nOn Professor Soyinka\u2019s comments, Adesina adds, \u201cIf there are genuine issues, they would always be looked into.
\n\u201cWe respect Professor Soyinka. You don\u2019t have too many of them in the country nor even on the continent.
\n\u201cProfessor Soyinka is an avatar, he is well respected but do you know one thing, Professor Soyinka\u2019s opinion will still be his opinion. It will be considered and if there are things to act on, they will be acted on”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"