By Mathew Dadiya, Abuja

The Federal Government has said that the coordinator of RevolutionNow Movement, Mr. Omoyele Sowore and his co-defendant, Olawale Bakare, would not go unpunished for their attempt to destabilise the country.

The Presidency said there was nowhere in the world where people called for a revolution and were set free without appropriate trials to justify their remote or otherwise causes of moulding the idea.

Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, said yesterday in a statement that no government would allow anybody to openly call for destabilization in the country and do nothing about it.

Garba dismissed the insinuations in the media about the re-arrest of Sowore by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) saying: “Nigerians do not need another spate of lawlessness and loss of lives all in the name of ‘revolution’, especially not one that is orchestrated by a man who makes his home in far away New York – and who can easily disappear and leave behind whatever instability he intends to cause, to wit, Nnamdi Kanu.”

The Presidency Spokesman noted some of the insinuations about Sowore’s re-arrest to include that “DSS does not necessarily need the permission of the Presidency in all cases to carry out its essential responsibilities that are laid down in the Nigerian Constitution”.

He said Sowore, who called for a revolution to overthrow the democratically elected government of Nigeria, “is a person of interest to the DSS.”

“He did so on television, and from a privileged position as the owner of a widely read digital newspaper run from the US. He founded an organisation, Revolution Now, to launch, in their own words, “Days of Rage”, with the publicised purpose of fomenting mass civil unrest and the elected administration’s overthrow.

“No government will allow anybody to openly call for destabilisation in the country and do nothing. Sowore is no ordinary citizen expressing his views freely on social media and the internet.

“He was a presidential candidate himself, who ran – and lost – as the flag bearer of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the Feb. 23 general elections.”

He further observed that Nigeria’s democracy was a long time in the making, and was achieved after” decades of often harsh, military-led overthrows of government: the kind of situation Sowore was advocating.

“To believe in and desire armed revolution is not normal amongst ‘human rights activists’, as Sowore has been incorrectly described.

“Again, it is no surprise that he should be a person of interest to the DSS.’
According to Shehu, Nigeria is already dealing with an insurgency that has left millions of people displaced and desperate in the north-eastern region of the country.

“The Boko Haram militants, who are behind the violence, also fancy themselves to be fighting for some sort of revolution,” he added.

The presidential aide, therefore, asserted that Sowore’s self-imposed predicament is a matter for the DSS, acting under its powers”.

Wife Begs US for Help

Wife of the convener of RevolutionNow Movement,Opeyemi Sowore, has raised the alarm over what she called “threat to her husband” and has taken the case of re-arrest of husband to the United States (US) for help.

Opeyemi, therefore, called on the US government to intervene in the predicament of her husband, who was re-arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, in an Abuja Federal High Court on Friday.

Briefing the Press in the US at the weekend, Opeyemi said her husband’s life might be in great danger unless the US government intervened.

Opeyemi insisted that Sowore’s re-arrest was a show of lawlessness and a gross disregard for the rule of law, adding: “After over 125 days of my husband being in detention illegally, he was finally set free.

“He got to speak to myself and the children. For the first time, we got to see his eyes when we spoke to him.

“I haven’t told them yet that he was rearrested. I was truly shaken to my core what I witnessed this morning. I was woken up by 4 a.m. what I call truly outrageous and a gross disregard for the rule of law.

“My husband was strangled and forcefully removed from the courtroom. The judge had to run and hide for her own safety. How do I tell my children who, after 125 days, have for the very first time spoken to their dad and seen his face that he is again in detention and he may not be coming home for Christmas? How do they understand this? Where do they go from here?”

“My 10-year-old (son), one of the things he wants for Christmas is for his dad to be home for Christmas. Christmas is only a few days away. What do I tell him when I leave here and get home?

“I’m truly afraid for his life and at this point, I believe the only way to bring him home is with the help of the United States.”

Activist Not Arrested in Courtroom ― DSS

Meanwhile, the Department of State Service (DSS), while responding to allegations of illegality in the arrest of Sowore, said in contrast to what is obtained in the media, it did not arrest the RevolutionNow Movement convener in the courtroom.

DSS said as law abiding agency, it could have and would never have invaded a courtroom, while legal processes were going on.

“It is instructive to note that during the court proceeding of the day under reference, Defence Counsel, Femi FALANA (SAN), called the attention of the Judge to a suspicion that the Service was planning to re-arrest Omoyele Sowore immediately after the court session.

“The Court discountenanced his alarm and asserted that the Service was law abiding and would not engage in such and subsequently adjourned to February, 2020.

“However, when Sowore stepped out of the court and sighted operatives of the Service within the premises, he ran back into the courtroom. In a bid to shield him from an imaginary arrest, his uncontrollable supporters mobbed him while chanting “you can’t arrest him” thus the pandemonium that ensued.

A critical look at the videos in circulation would convince any objective viewer that there was no DSS personnel during the entire period the Sowore crowd acted out its orchestrated drama.

“The DSS, as a professional, responsible and law-abiding Organization, could not have invaded a courtroom including the one presided over by a respected Judge, who is not only handling its case, but whose order was unconditionally obeyed within a 24-hour ultimatum”, the agency said in a statement.