Robert Menendez, Senator of the United States from New Jersey, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria to order the Department of State Services (DSS) to release journalist and activist, Omoyele Sowore.
Okay.ng reports that the DSS rearrested Sowore after he was released from its custody on Thursday night.
Sowore was released after spending 124 days in detention of the DSS.
Reacting in a statement on Friday, Menendez, a member of the senate foreign relations committee, said the United States and the world is watching.
The United States is watching and the world is watching. I fear that the blatant harassment of Mr Omoyele Sowore, an activist and journalist whose only crime appears to be exercising his right to free expression, is becoming symptomatic of increasingly closing political and civic space in Nigeria.
“The Nigerian court has twice ordered his release on bail. And the state security agencies openly defied the court order each time leaving me to conclude that either Nigeria no longer respects the rule of law or President Buhari is woefully out of touch with what agents of his governments are doing in his name,” he said.
“This is unacceptable in a country that calls itself a democracy. Journalists who risk their lives to expose the truth should be celebrated, not incarcerated.
“It is unacceptable to that the husband and father of a US citizen with such blatant cruelty. Today, my office contacted our ambassador in Nigeria in an effort to obtain answers on what actions the United States is taking on the Sowore family’s behalf.
“In the next several days, I’ll continue to engage with the states department in Washington to ascertain the impart of what the arrest of Mr Sowore and other activists and journalists will have on our relationship with Nigeria. My hope is that the bilateral relationship we have with Nigeria will be reassessed in light of these events.”
