The Ndigbo Young Professionals has cautioned a group known as Advocates for Justice and Human Rights against misleading the public with false claims regarding the detention of activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore.
In a statement signed by its President, Ambassador Chinonso Chukwuemeka, the group described as “mischievous and ignorant” the claims by the Advocates for Justice that Sowore was “re-arrested” and unlawfully detained by the Nigeria Police Force.
The Ndigbo Young Professionals clarified that Sowore was not re-arrested but remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the fulfilment of his bail conditions as ordered by a Magistrate Court in Kuje, Abuja. The court had earlier granted bail to Sowore following his arrest during the recent #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest.
According to the statement, “The Nigeria Police Force only carried out its constitutional duty by enforcing a lawful court order. The remand of Mr Sowore was directed by a competent court, not by the Police, and his release depends solely on the fulfilment of his bail conditions.”
The group expressed disappointment at what it termed the growing trend of “mushroom and faceless organisations issuing baseless and inflammatory statements” without understanding the legal process.
“The claim that the Police are ‘insulting the rule of law and democracy’ is false, baseless, and irresponsible,” the statement read. “Nigeria remains a democratic nation governed by the rule of law, with no battered human rights record as mischievously portrayed.”
The Ndigbo Young Professionals urged genuine civil society organisations to direct their efforts toward assisting Sowore in meeting his bail conditions rather than attacking law enforcement agencies.
“Those genuinely concerned about Mr Sowore’s welfare should approach the court, not the Police,” the group added.
