Sowore arrested again, possible violation of his human rights?
By Joseph Ayinde
In the light of the recent arrest of the publisher of SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore, eyebrows have been raised at possible human rights violations by the federal government, it is in fact the plan of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) to institute an action to challenge these human rights violations. What then are the rights that have been violated?
SERAP reported that on the midnight of 1st January, 2021, Sowore alongside four other activists, Juwon Sanyaolu, Peter Williams, Damilare Adenola and Emmanuel Bulus were arrested by the officers of the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja.
One of the charges brought against them was that of unlawful assembly, however reports indicate that it was a peaceful assembly, thus this charge can be considered to be a breach of the right to peaceful assembly guaranteed in Section 40 of the 1999 constitution.
It was argued by the government that the assembly of Sowore and others caused discomfort in the area, unless this is proved to be the case, and unless the assembly constituted a threat to the community amongst other possible limitations, there should be no reason for the right of peaceful assembly provided in Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria to be infringed.
Additionally there were reports from SERAP that Sowore and others that were arrested were subjected to severe torture and ill treatment, reports also revealed that Sowore was left with bruises which were as a result of excessive force used by the police officers. This is clearly a breach of Section 34 of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria which provides for the right to dignity of human person. Section 34 (b) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria is to the effect that no person shall be subjected to torture.
If the reports of the torture of Sowore and others are proved to be true, there can be a breach of Section 34 of the 1999 Constitution, and it should be noted that this right cannot be derogated from, as it doesn’t fall under the sections listed in Section 45 (1) of the 1999 constitution.
Human rights are sacrosanct and form the bedrock of any viable democracy, flowing from this it is important that human rights are protected, and in light of the Sowore case there might have possibly been a violation of his human rights guaranteed by the constitution. It is therefore advised that the government, and law enforcement agencies pay attention to the rights of people subsequently especially when making arrests, because without these rights our democracy is questionable.
Additionally the efficacy of the constitution is truncated by the government and law enforcement agencies when there is no respect for the rights in the constitution. This is because the constitution is considered to be supreme pursuant to Section 1(1) of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria, and failure to adhere to that provision of the constitution puts its supremacy under threat.
