Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged “the government of President Bola Tinubu to immediately and unconditionally release journalist Omoyele Sowore and drop all charges of criminal defamation and cybercrimes against him, as he is detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his human rights.”
According to reports, a Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday ordered the remand of Sowore at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the hearing of his application challenging the revocation of his bail. The court made the order after dismissing an application by Sowore seeking the judge’s recusal from the case on grounds of alleged bias.
In a statement signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: “We are concerned about the escalating crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, association and media freedom, and the flagrant disregard for the rule of law by Nigerian authorities.”
According to SERAP, “Nigerian authorities should safeguard, not stifle, human rights and the rule of law in the country.”
The statement, read in part: “Nigerian authorities must immediately release Sowore and drop all the bogus charges against him. Authorities must stop weaponizing criminal defamation and cybercrime laws to target and attack journalists, bloggers, human rights defenders and activists and stop detaining and imprisoning them solely for doing their jobs.
