How Not to Persecute Activists

             POLITICAL NOTES

The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, last week withdrew the bogus treasonable felony charges slammed on pro-democracy activist, Omoyele Sowore, at the Federal High Court in Abuja by the former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, ending a trial that had floundered without any tangible progress for more than four years.

Former President Buhari’s administration, had through its then AGF, and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, filed the treasonable felony charges against the pro-democracy activist and another activist, Olawale Bakare, following their arrest by the Department State Security Services (DSS) for calling for a nationwide #RevolutionNow protest against Buhari in August 2019.

 The charges accused Sowore, a two-time presidential candidate, and Bakare of attempting to topple the Buhari’s administration, an allegation they both denied.

In sensational episodes that followed their arraignment, the DSS refused to obey the court order granting Sowore bail, pitting the Buhari administration against the human rights community, which accused the security agency and the then president of lawlessness.

The matter got to a head in December 2019, when DSS operatives invaded the court, disrupting a proceeding to rearrest Sowore, who was adamant in resisting the widely-condemned forcible action of the security agents.

But since after the arraignment, the trial has made no significant progress, with the prosecution only able to call one witness in more than four years. The case was often adjourned based on one excuse or the other mostly from the prosecution.

It was evident that the charges were only meant to subject him to untold hardship and cow those opposed to Buhari’s style of leadership. The then AGF who should have known that it was within Sowore’s rights to protest, and that the charges preferred against him were not sustainable looked the other way.

Even when the trial commenced, it was obvious that Sowore should never have been charged in the first place. 

The Nigerian government must learn to be tolerant and allow activists and journalists to freely carry out their activities without any harassment, intimidation and fear of reprisals. 

Unfair prosecution is part of restriction of civic space and escalating crackdown on human rights in Nigeria.

Most importantly, governments must respect, protect, and promote the human rights of everyone in the country, including the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, association and media freedom.