Sowore: Unite to defend rule of law, Soyinka tells civil societies

Playwright and critic, Prof Wole Soyinka, has called on the civil society groups to unite and defend the rule of law and fundamental human rights.

Soyinka stated this in a statement titled 'Sowore, human rights and the rule of law' following the Federal Government's refusal to release the detained publisher of an online news medium, SaharaReporters, Mr Omoyele Sowore, after meeting stringent bail conditions.

The Federal Government, through the Department of State Services, has refused to release Sowore and his partner, Olawale Bakare, for calling for revolution via #RevolutionNow protest, despite court orders ordering their release.

The Nobel laureate said, "It should become abundantly clear by now that civil society organisations, committed to the entrenchment of the rule of law and the defence of fundamental human rights must come together. This is not a new cry. They must meet, debate, and embark on a binding pact of tactical responses whenever these two pillars of civilised society are besieged by the demolition engines of state security agencies.

"The sporadic, uncoordinated responses as in the case of Omoyele Sowore, the absence of a solid strategy, ready to be activated against any threat --these continue to enable these agencies in their mission to enthrone a pattern of conduct that openly scoffs at the role of the judiciary in national life. Result?

A steady entrenchment of the cult of impunity in the dealings of state with the citizenry – both individuals and organisations. The level of arrogance has crossed even the most permissive thresholds."

Saying it was heart-warming to witness the determined efforts of “Concerned Nigerians” in defence of these rights, Soyinka said predictably, the ham-fisted response of the DSS continued to defy the rulings of the court.

He added, "The weaponry of lies having been exploded in their faces, they resort to what else? Violence! Violence, including, as now reported, the firing of live bullets. Why the desperation? The answer is straightforward: the government never imagined that the bail conditions for Sowore would ever be met. Even Sowore’s supporters despaired. The bail test was clearly set to fail! It took a while for the projection to be reversed, and it left the DSS floundering. That agency then resorted to childish, cynical lies. It claimed that the ordered release was no longer in their hands, but in Sowore’s end of the transfer. The lie being exploded, what next? Bullets of course!

"Such a development is not only callous and inhuman, but it is also criminal. It escalates an already untenable defiance by the state. As I remarked from the onset, this is an act of government insecurity and paranoia that merely defeats its real purpose. And now – bullets? This is no longer comical. Perhaps it is necessary to remind this government of precedents in other lands where, even years after the event, those who trampled on established human rights that generate homicidal impunity are called to account for abuse of power and crimes against humanity."

The convener of WS Foundation for the Humanities, Abeokuta, Ogun State, said the protests for Sowore’s release went beyond only acts of solidarity, but also manifestations of the judgement and authority of courts of law, under which Nigeria was supposedly governed.

He stated, "Either it is, or it isn’t. The answer stares us all in the face. The principles that now fall under threat implicate more than one individual under travail. They involve the very entitlement of a nation to lay claim to membership of any democratic, humanised union.

"Enough of this charade, nothing more than a display of crude, naked power. Release Omoyele Sowore and save us further embarrassment in regard to the world. An apology to the nation by the DSS and the judiciary would also not be out of place. It would go some distance in redeeming the image of an increasingly fascistic agency and reduce the swelling tide of public disillusionment.

"Let the rule of law reign. Failing that, have the honesty to proclaim the death of ordered society. Then we’ll all know just where we stand."