By Ismaila Chafe
Abuja – The Presidency has dismissed insinuations in the media about the re-arrest by the Department of State Services (DSS) of Omoyele Sowore, saying no government will allow anybody to openly call for destabilization in the country and do nothing.
The President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, who stated this in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, said:
”Nigerians do not need another spate of lawlessness and loss of lives all in the name of ‘revolution’, especially not one that is orchestrated by a man who makes his home in far away New York – and who can easily disappear and leave behind whatever instability he intends to cause, to wit, Nnamdi Kanu.”
The Presidency notes some of the insinuations in the media about the arrest by the Department of State Services (DSS) of the agitator, Omoyele Sowore.
According to the presidential aide, the DSS does not necessarily need the permission of the Presidency in all cases to carry out its essential responsibilities that are laid down in the Nigerian Constitution.
He maintained that Sowore, who called for a revolution to overthrow the democratically elected government of Nigeria, ”is a person of interest to the DSS.”
Shehu said: ”He did so on television, and from a privileged position as the owner of a widely read digital newspaper run from the U.S.
”He founded an organisation, Revolution Now, to launch, in their own words, “Days of Rage”, with the publicised purpose of fomenting mass civil unrest and the elected administration’s overthrow.
”No government will allow anybody to openly call for destabilisation in the country and do nothing.
”Mr Sowore is no ordinary citizen expressing his views freely on social media and the internet.
”He was a presidential candidate himself, who ran – and lost – as the flag bearer of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the Feb. 23 general elections.”
He further observed that Nigeria’s democracy was a long time in the making, and was achieved after ”decades of often harsh, military-led overthrows of government: the kind of situation Sowore was advocating.
”To believe in and desire armed revolution is not normal amongst ‘human rights activists’, as Sowore has been incorrectly described.
”Again, it is no surprise that he should be a person of interest to the DSS.’
According to Shehu, Nigeria is already dealing with an insurgency that has left millions of people displaced and desperate in the northeastern region of the country.
”The Boko Haram militants, who are behind the violence, also fancy themselves to be fighting for some sort of revolution,” he added.
The presidential aide, therefore, opined that Sowore’s self-imposed predicament ”is a matter for the DSS, acting under its powers.”
