Sowore will sue Nigerian police for torture, says Falana

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, on Saturday said he had received instructions from the Convener of the #RevolutionNow movement, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, to sue the Nigeria Police Force for torture.

Falana, in a statement, said his client was maltreated, tortured, and subjected to dehumanising conditions in contravention of the Anti-Torture Act.

Sowore was arrested on New Year eve for leading a protest against the Federal Government in Abuja.

Falana said: “Since Mr. Sowore’s fundamental right to dignity has been recklessly violated by the police, we have his instructions to press for charges against all the officers who subjected him to physical and mental torture in contravention of the letter and spirit of the provisions of the Anti Torture Act of 2017.”

He said the force was waiting for “orders from above” before releasing the activist.

Falana wondered why his client would be denied bail for two consecutive days because he was alleged to have breached the COVID-19 protocols.

Sowore, who was covering an event at the time of his arrest, had insisted that he did not breach any of the COVID-19 regulations.

Falana said: “He (Sowore) had been badly beaten and locked up in a detention facility along with armed robbery suspects.

“The police officers who arrested Mr. Omoyele Sowore at Abuja on December 31, 2020, subjected him to severe beating and left him with bruises all over his body.

“As if that was not enough he has been locked up in the midst of armed robbery suspects at a notorious detention facility called abattoir, maintained by the disbanded Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) in Abuja.”  (The Nation)