The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has described the arrest of Omoyele Sowore and other protesters in the last peaceful protest as a breach of their fundamental human rights, as well as other Nigerians’ collective right to freedom of expression and association as enshrined in international and national instruments that strengthen democracy.
The NLC, in a statement on Friday, August 16, 2019, by the General-Secretary, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, said Sowore and other protesters were not carrying arms against the state and demanded their immediate and unconditional release.
He said: “His continued detention by the State Security Service lacks any justification, as his actions were not in any way a threat to the sovereignty of Nigeria nor the democratically constituted government of Nigeria.
“He was just one out of several Nigerians demanding for good governance being the minimum demand citizens can make from a government they democratically elected.”
The NLC said it was with deep consternation that it viewed the attacks and arrest of peaceful protesters in some parts of the country by security agencies and military personnel.
“There is no where in our Constitution or laws that security agencies are empowered to brazenly attack peaceful protesters and hound its organisers into detention, as the right to peaceful protests, assembly and association is fully guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under sections 39 and 40,” the labour centre said.
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