About 50 policemen in 10 trucks have surrounded the premises of the
Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) in Adeniyi Jones area
of Ikeja in Lagos.
A protest demanding the release of Omoyele Sowore, candidate of the
African Action Congress in the last presidential election has been
scheduled to take place at the venue at 10am on Wednesday.
Sowore, has been detained since August by the Department of State
Services (DSS) who accused him of threatening public peace with the
#RevolutionNow protest.
A CDHR official who does not want to be named told online medium, The
Cable that the security operatives have been at the premises since
7am.
“We didn’t invite them. This is just a peaceful protest and we don’t
know why they are here in their numbers,” he said.
This is happening just as policemen and soldiers blocked the entrance
to the office of SaharaReporters, an online publication founded by
Sowore.
The armed men prevented reporters from gaining access to the building
located at GRA in Ikeja.
A member of staff of the organisation who spoke off the record told
the medium that the security agents had been there since 7am.
As of 10:30am, more armed policemen have been deployed in the CDHR premises.
When contacted, Bala Elkana, the Lagos police command spokesperson,
said he was not aware of the deployment.
“I don’t have the brief,” he said.
It is not clear if the planned protest will take place as only a few
protesters had arrived at the venue.
“They cannot stop us,” one of the protesters told the medium.
“We may have to re-strategise, and probably change venue. But of
course, we know they will still come after us.”
In August, some #RevolutionNow protesters were arrested and while some
injured after security operatives opened fire on them.
… protesters defy rain
Supporters of Omoyele Sowore and members of the Coalition for
Revolution movement are currently holding a protest in Lagos to demand
the release of the Sahara Reporter publisher and other Nigerians in
detention in the country.
The protesters, who could not be held back by the rain that swept
across the city, also defied the threat of arrest by the Nigeria
Police Force and other security agencies.
The police had laid siege to the initial convergence point of the
protesters, barring them from kicking off the protest early enough.
However, the protesters converged at another point in Lagos to
continue the demonstration.
Co-convener of the movement, Seni Ajai, said the protesters would not
give in to threat from the government and continue to demand for the
freedom of Sowore.
He said, “We gathered somewhere else and continued the protest as planned.
