Human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has called on Nigerians to hold President Muhammadu Buhari responsible for the attack on the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore who was exercising his human right.
Sowore on Monday sustained an injury as he was fired from a tear gas canister by a police officer while trying to protest at Unity Fountain in Abuja.
Reacting to this, Adegboruwa in a statement titled, ‘Nothing must happen to Sowore’, called on Nigerians to hold President Buhari responsible for the attack launched on Sowore by the police for exercising his right.
“I urge all Nigerians and indeed the international community to hold the government of President Muhammadu Buhari responsible for anything that befalls Mr Sowore on account of the lawful exercise of his fundamental rights.
“The Unity Fountain is a public place, where other citizens have held protests in support of the Buhari administration in recent past, without let or hindrance and even with police escorts.
“In the period when President Muhammadu Buhari was leading the opposition politicians, he led several protests across the country, without anyone shooting at him or other protesters.”
Adegboruwa also warned that “the Nigerian government must do better and be more mindful of its troubling antecedents as hard of hearing and failing to distil historical hindsight from the experiences of the past.”
Meanwhile, police in Abuja had denied any attack on Sowore.
A statement by the FCT Police spokesperson, Mariam Yusuf, denied that Sowore was shot, saying there was no record of the incident.
“Contrary to the speculation, police operatives professionally restored calm at the Unity Fountain following attempts by a group of protesters to incite public disturbance”, part of the statement read.