Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
The Presidential candidate of Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, has faulted the arrest and detention of the 2023 Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore by the security agency without charges, calling it an abuse of state power.
Obi, in a statement on Friday, said he was deeply disturbed to learn of the arrest of Omoyele Sowore yesterday, shortly after he voluntarily honoured an invitation by the Nigerian Police Force.
He said that at the time of writing, no clear or credible charges had been made public, further casting a troubling shadow over the nature and motivation behind his detention.
According to him “His arrest, particularly under circumstances where he presented himself in good faith to law enforcement, should be condemned by all who value justice and due process.
“From all indications, no urgency or criminal flight risk warranted such high-handed treatment.
“To detain a citizen who came of his own accord, without the public disclosure of clear, lawful charges, is not only a miscarriage of justice but an abuse of state power.
“As the ancient Greek philosopher Plato rightly said, “Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as it first resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens.”
“When those entrusted with power act unjustly, they poison not only the legal order but the moral conscience of the nation.
“I therefore call on the Nigerian Police to immediately release Omoyele Sowore or charge him formally under the law.
“Anything short of this would be a further erosion of public trust in the nation’s law enforcement institutions.
“It is our collective duty to insist that the rule of law must apply to all citizens- regardless of ideology, background, or political alignment.”