The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested presidential candidate of the Africa Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 election, Omoyele Sowore.
Sowore was arrested on Sunday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos immediately after his plane touched down in Nigeria.
Sowore’s expected arrival in Nigeria saw many of his supporters and activists gather at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport to receive him.
The arrest of Sowore may be in connection to the phase two of the #EndBadGovernance protest billed for October 1 which he has been promoting.
Amnesty International in a statement warned the Nigerian authorities against the plan to arrest Sowore, urging an end to the weaponization of security agents in the harassment and intimidation of activists, journalists, and whistleblowers.
The statement reads: “The alleged threat to arrest Omoyele Sowore upon his return to Nigeria follows the escalating crackdown on human rights, peaceful dissent, and media freedom in the country.
“Last week, Nigeria’s Department of State Services arbitrarily arrested NLC President Joe Ajaero and invaded the Abuja office of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, barely 24 hours after the organization urged President Tinubu to instruct the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to reverse the hike in the pump price of petrol promptly and to probe allegations of corruption and mismanagement in the NNPC.”
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