By John Ameh
The publisher of online newspaper, Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, has applied to the Federal High Court in Abuja to set aside its order which gave the Department of State Services (DSS) legal backing to detain him for 45 days.
It would be recalled that operatives of the DSS had on August 3, swooped on Sowore over his nationwide call for revolution against alleged bad governance in the country.
Sowore who was the presidential candidate of the African Action Alliance in the 2019 General Elections and convener of #RevolutionNow protests, argued that the detention order issued on Thursday by Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court Abuja Division was in violation of his fundamental human rights as guaranteed in the Nigerian Constitution.
The embattled human rights activist through his lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), distilled, among others in the 19 grounds for his application.
In one of the grounds, Sowore argued that the order of the court amounted to “legalising the illegality” of his detention for about four days prior to the issuance of the court order on Thursday.
Delivering a ruling on an ex parte request by the DSS to detain Sowore for 90 days to investigate him for alleged crimes bordering on treason and terrorism, Justice Taiwo on Thursday granted the services’ permission to hold Sowore for 45 days.
The judge held that the 45-day period, starting from Thursday would lapses on September 21, the date he also slated for the next hearing of the case, adding that the 45-day detention order was subject to renewal, if the DSS is unable to conclude its investigation within the period.