Human Rights Activist, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, has on Monday, called on the International Community, as well as Nigerians, to hold the government of President Muhammadu Buhari solely responsible, should anything happen to the the Publisher of Sahara Reporters and Activist, Omoyele Sowore, who was allegedly recently attacked by the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, on Monday, prior to a protest against the Federal Government, .
Adegboruwa, who was reacting to the reports of the alleged attack on Sowore, said that he has been “the target of criminal prosecution, on account of his non-violent campaign for good governance and accountability”, by the President Buhari government.
In a statement titled: ‘Nothing must happen to Sowore’, Adegboruwa said: “I urge all Nigerians and indeed the international community to hold the government of President Muhammadu Buhari responsible for anything that befalls Mr. Sowore, on account of the lawful exercise of his fundamental rights.
“The Unity Fountain is a public place, where other citizens have held protests in support of the Buhari administration in recent past, without let or hindrance and even with police escorts.
“In the period when President Muhammadu Buhari was leading the opposition politicians, he led several protests across the country, without anyone shooting at him or other protesters.”
Another Legal Practitioner, Pelumi Olajengbesi, also condemned the attack on Sowore.
He stated: “It is however saddening and indeed condemnable that such a constitutionally guaranteed movement has been greeted with a violent and brutal response by the government who, acting through its police officers, opened fire on unarmed, peaceful protesters leading to several serious injuries on citizens, including a fatal wound on the person of Omoyele Sowore.
“Without mincing words, I want to reiterate that the Buhari-led administration will be held responsible and dragged before the international community should anything happen to Sowore and indeed all participants in today’s peaceful protest at the Unity Fountain, Abuja.
“The Nigerian government must do better and be more mindful of its troubling antecedents as hard of hearing and failing to distil historical hindsight from the experiences of the past.”
