Human rights activist and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has disclosed that the Department of State Services (DSS) is planning to arraign detained journalist Zainab Sodiq over what he described as an “unknown offence.”
Sowore made this known on Thursday, accusing the Director-General of the DSS, Tosin Ajayi, of acting out of personal vendetta following public criticism of the agency’s handling of the journalist’s detention.
According to Sowore, information available to him indicates that the DSS is preparing to take Sodiq to court despite failing to disclose any specific offence she allegedly committed.
“We have been informed that the lawless DSS DG, Tosin Ajayi, now plans to charge journalist Zainab Sodiq to court for an unknown offence,” Sowore said on Thursday.
The activist further stated that the continued detention of the journalist was not driven by any legitimate legal process but was instead motivated by the DSS Director-General’s reaction to public scrutiny.
“Her continued detention is essentially about the bruised ego of the DSS DG, who became angry after I exposed the DSS’s abuses and illegal detention of Zainab,” Sowore stated.
Sowore has consistently criticised the DSS over Sodiq’s detention, describing it as unlawful and demanding her immediate release.
Earlier, SaharaReporters reported that Sowore accused Ajayi of orchestrating attacks, manipulating judicial processes, and ordering the arrest of a journalist as part of campaign of persecution against him.
Sowore made this known to the public, alleging that officials of the DSS had intensified efforts to silence him following his recent incarceration at Kuje Correctional Centre.
According to Sowore, the DSS Director-General dispatched operatives to attack him at the Federal High Court, only to later claim that the agency was investigating the same incident.
“The DG of the lawless DSS, Tosin Ajayi, sent his goons to attack me at the Federal High Court last week. When it backfired, he turned around to claim he was ‘investigating’ the same attack,” Sowore said.
The presidential candidate also recounted events following his release from Kuje Prison.
According to the activist, the DSS prosecutor handling his case, A.T. Kehinde, SAN, made efforts to have him returned to prison despite the fulfillment of his bail conditions.
“After I spent nine days in Kuje Prison, his prosecutor, A.T. Kehinde, SAN, tried to have me sent back by falsely claiming I had not perfected my bail,” Sowore stated.
He maintained that officials responsible for verifying his bail conditions confirmed that all requirements had been met, but noted that the prosecutor still refused to act in accordance with the court’s directives.
“When the Bail Unit confirmed that I had met the conditions, he still refused to certify my sureties as requested by the judge,” he added.
Sowore further stated that after efforts to return him to custody failed, the DSS moved against a journalist who had been covering his activities.
“When that scheme failed, the DSS arrested Zainab Sodiq, the journalist covering my activities,” he said.
The activist claimed to have received information suggesting that a deal had already been struck to ensure his imprisonment, regardless of the merits of his legal defence.
(SaharaReporters)