Human rights activist and President of the Centre for Change, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, has condemned the arrest of the African Action Congress presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, by the operatives of the Department of State Services ahead of Monday’s nationwide protest against bad governance.
Okei-Odumakin made this known in a statement on Saturday.
She said the arrest is uncalled for as calling for a protest cannot be a crime under any law to warrant anticipatory arrest.
The statement reads: “The attention of the Centre for Change has been drawn to the arrest of Mr Omoyele Sowore by men of DSS.
“The arrest coming ahead of the Monday protest he and others are spearheading suggests a fledging culture of intolerance that may be gripping the country.
“Except he has committed any other offence that we are not aware of, calling a protest cannot be a crime under any law to warrant anticipatory arrest as has been done.
“We demand immediate release of the activist whom we declare a prisoner of conscience for every minute he is held.
“We advise the government to temper its mood as this is a democracy and not military rule.”
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