More protests coming, says Sowore after airport detention
Human rights activist and 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, has said that more protests are coming following his detention at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Sunday.
Sowore announced on Sunday morning that he was being detained at the airport by the Nigerian Immigration Service upon his arrival from the United States.
He wrote on X.com, “I had just arrived in Nigeria from the USA at MMIA in Lagos; upon reaching Nigerian Immigration, my passport was seized, and they told me they had orders to detain me.
“This is not unexpected because I have always known that it is part of the broader clampdown by the fascist @officialAbat regime on dissent and their fear of the upcoming #FearlessINOctober revolt.”
He was released shortly after, and supporters who had been protesting his detention at the airport cheered and celebrated when they saw him.
In an interview on Arise TV later on Sunday, Sowore addressed the planned “FearlessInOctober” protest scheduled to commence on October 1, 2024.
He said the protest was “part of a series of protests organised by Nigerians. We started on August 1, which was part of the ‘End Bad Governance’ protest. It was supposed to be a continuation.
“There were 15 demands that the government did not even attend to. Instead of that, the Federal Government arrested and detained a lot of people. They tied them with bogus offences, very outrageous offences of treason – for carrying placards.
“So, this is going to be a continuation of that.”
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He said the mobilisation for the October action had been on since the end of the #Endbadgovernnance protest which was held in August.
“Everybody is aware, the government is aware of this. Everybody is looking forward to it because it’s a matter of right that Nigerians have to not allow this government to obliterate them with hunger, starvation, and incompetence,” he said
He added that he had no fear of arrest or being charged.
“It is treason to arrest, detain, and forcibly charge citizens with crimes that the government committed. And it’s not the first time I was accused of treason. In fact, I heard about the offence of treason in 1992 at the University of Lagos when we went and did Babangida Must Go. And the police arrested us at Western Avenue Police Station, asked us to start writing statements under duress, and said that we wanted to overthrow the government. That was the period that Olusegun Mayegun was President of NANS.
“I was charged with treason in 2019 by Buhari, so I’m not new to these bogus offences of treason. But that is not our focus. Our focus is that we have a country to liberate and a people to save. So whatever offences are thrown our way, we should not be discouraged. It’s up to the people to determine what constitutes the offence of treason. And I must say to you also that in 1994, Tinubu was accused of treason. If you remember when he was accused of bombing the Ejigbo depot by Abacha. So that was why he left Nigeria on exile. But in our case, we are not going to go on exile simply because the government is afraid of our package,” Sowore added.
The National Publicity Secretary of the AAC, Adeyeye Olorunfemi, condemned the “unwarranted arrest and harassment” of Sowore on Sunday.
“This blatant act of intimidation is a reminder of the Bola Tinubu regime’s growing intolerance for dissenting voices,” Adeyeye said in a statement.
“We demand that the regime channel its energy and resources of the country towards addressing the crippling economic hardship inflicted upon Nigerians by its detrimental policies, rather than silencing opposition voices. The AAC will not stand idly while our leaders are targeted for speaking truth to power,” the party’s spokesperson added.
The party vowed to resist “any further arrests or intimidation attempts” and demanded the release of all protesters in detention following their participation in August’s #EndbadGovernance protests.
