Skip to main content

Sowore Gets Nominated For United States Prisoner Of Conscience Honour


According to SaharaReporters, the pro-democracy campaigner and journalist, Omoyele Sowore, has been nominated to receive the Prisoner of Conscience honour from the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the United States House of Representatives.


The bipartisan commission is charged with promoting, defending and advocating for international human rights.

U.S lawmaker, Josh Gottheimer, sponsored Sowore’s nomination for the prestigious recognition.

The Congressman made the announcement during a meeting with other American politicians on Friday.

He said:

“For months now, I have been working closely with the Sowore family, the Haworth community, the State Department, and my colleagues to advocate on Yele’s (Omoyele) behalf.

“We are urging the Nigerian Government to protect Yele’s safety, provide him with the due process he deserves, and ultimately permit him to return home as soon as possible.

“We will continue watching the situation in Nigeria, a democracy seeking closer ties with the United States, to make sure the government respects basic human rights.”


Gottheimer and other members of Congress had earlier sent a letter to Nigeria’s Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), requesting that immediate steps be taken to ensure the safety and security of Sowore while still in custody and to ensure he get a credible trial.

Few days after receiving that latter, Malami on Tuesday ordered the release of Sowore from unlawful detention by the Department of State Services.

The journalist was first arrested on August 3, 2019 for calling on Nigerians to take to the streets in peaceful demonstrations to demand a better country from political leaders.

He was briefly released on bail on December 5 but rearrested a few hours later on December 6 by DSS operatives while appearing for his trial in a case brought against him by the Nigerian Government.

He is being accused of insulting President Muhammadu Buhari and planning to bring down his regime.

In all, Sowore spent over four months in detention despite two court orders directing his release on bail during that period.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

55-Year-Old Man Arrested For Defiling Neighbor’s 10-Year-Old Girl

A 55-year old man, Jonas Obuobi, has landed in trouble in Lagos after he was reportedly caught engaging his neighbour’s 10-year old girl in sex and was arrested. The incident happened at Etimagu Street, Bariga area of Lagos where they reside. Police sources alleged that the suspect, Jonas, lured the victim into his apartment where he confused her, removed her pant and eventually defiled her in the process. However, while in the act, their neighbours caught him and the matter was reported to the Police who arrested and handed him to the Gender Section of the Command, Ikeja, Lagos for further investigation. During investigation, he denied raping her but reportedly saying that he did not force her into the act.However, the Police found him culpable because of the age of the victim and later charged him before the Ogba Magistrates Court for the alleged offence. The Court did not take his plea after the prosecutor, Mr. Christopher John, asked the Court to refer the matter to t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Should Arsenal Sell Eddie Nketiah To West Ham

 Once he hit the U18s he was known as a prolific goalscorer, and was quickly promoted to the U23s, where he carried on scoring despite his age, and Arsene Wenger introduced him to the senior side. Fans started to take notice when he came on as a sub in a League Cup game against Norwich and scored both goals and we were excited for his future. But that promise has never quite materialised. Eddie has continued to be prolific against Smaller sides (i.e. League Cup, Europa League and England U21 qualifiers) but in the League he has managed just 4 goals in 33 appearances, although mostly off the bench. The superstriker never seems to emerge, but I guess we have to remember he is still only 21 and has rarely had a run in the senior side, but I don’t think fans are as excited about him displacing Aubameyang or Lacazette any more. So, the rumours today are that West Ham are considering making an offer for Eddie, after selling Hillier to Ajax for 20m, and we could probably do with selling a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Arsenal's £72m Enigma: Arteta Right To Demand More From Mercurial Pepe

The Gunners' record signing may have scored his third goal of the season on Thursday night but his manager wants consistency across 90 minutes. Mikel Arteta’s answer was clear when asked what Nicolas Pepe needed to show in order to earn himself a regular starting spot in Arsenal's Premier League team. “Consistency,” said the Arsenal boss, when quizzed on the Gunners’ record signing, following Thursday’s night’s 4-1 Europa League win against Molde at the Emirates Stadium. It was a game that perfectly encapsulated the enigma that is Pepe. The £72 million ($95m) man was infuriating at times - especially in the first half - but just as he had done against Dundalk a week earlier, he popped up with an excellent goal. He also went on to add an assist for Joe Willock, a late strike which sealed a comfortable victory for Arteta’s side and all but booked Arsenal’s passage into the knockout stages. It was a classic Pepe performance and more evidence of why he remains such a puzzle in nort...
Post a Comment
Read more