Buhari Bows to Pressure, Orders Release of Dasuki, Sowore

Matilda Omonaiye/

Following pressures from the United States (U.S.) Government and Human Rights activists, President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered security agents to release former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki and convener of #RevolutionNow protest Omoyele Sowore.

The order came less than 24 hours after an attack on freedom protesters at the office of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Abuja, on Monday.

NewsmakersNG had exclusively reported that the president was set to release Sowore following threats from the U.S. to terminate a defence contract for the supply of Tucano jets to Nigeria.

The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami made Buhari’s order public today in a statement.

Malami said the decision to release them was in compliance with the bail granted the two by the court, which the government had refused to honour over time.

Sources in international security circles had told NewsmakersNG last week that the Federal Government of Nigeria would free Sowore this week after the American government threatened to terminate a defence contract to sell 12 fighter jets known as Super Tucano to Nigeria.

Pentagon had in November 2018 awarded a $329 million contract to Sierra Nevada for 12 A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft for the Nigerian Air Force, more than two years after the deal was first mooted by the administration of President Barack Obama in May 2016, but was then stalled by Obama over concerns about human rights violations after the Nigerian Air Force ‘mistakenly’ bombed a refugee camp in January 2017, killing more than 100 refugees and aid workers.

President Donald Trump’s administration re-activated the deal in April 2017.

Malami’s statement reads: “The office of the honourable Attorney General of the Federation has reviewed the pending criminal charges against the duo of Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.) and Omoyele Sowore.

“Whilst the Federal High Court has exercised its discretion in granting bail to the Defendants in respect of the charges against them, I am also not unmindful of the right of the Complainant/Prosecution to appeal or further challenge the grant of bail by the court having regards to extant legal provisions, particularly Section 169 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.

“However, my office has chosen to comply with the court orders while considering the pursuit of its rights of appeal and/or review of the order relating to the bail as granted or varied by the courts.

“In line with the provisions of Sections 150(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and in compliance with the bail granted to Col. Sambo Dasuki (Rtd) (as recently varied by the Court of Appeal) and the bail granted to Omoyele Sowore, I have directed the State Security Services to comply with the order granting bail.

“The two defendants are enjoined to observe the terms of their bail and refrain from engaging in any act that is inimical to public peace and national security as well as their ongoing trial which will run its course in accordance with the laws of the land.

“I wish to reiterate again the utmost regard of my office for the entire judicial structure of Nigeria.

“This administration remains unrelenting in deepening the rule of law and the administration of justice in general.”

Sowore, a former presidential candidate and founder of Sahara Reporters online news agency who lectures in an American university was arrested with a student activist, Olawale Bakare, on August 3, 2019, by the Department of Security Services (DSS) in Nigeria for alleged treason after organizing a protest tagged RevolutionNow.

The DSS held him for 123 days, even after a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered that he should be released on bail. He was eventually released and dramatically rearrested the next day inside a courtroom on December 6 in the presence of a judge. Since then, the DSS kept him in their custody without any detention order of court or arrest warrant.

Sowore’s wife, Opeyemi, a U.S. citizen, had called for the intervention of the American government at a press conference convened by Robert Menendez, a U.S. lawmaker and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the United States.

Menendez had threatened at the press conference that Nigeria’s bilateral relationship with the United States would be reassessed if President Muhammadu Buhari continued to lose touch of what is happening in a security outfit under him.

Confirming NewsmakersNG’s story about President Trump’s concerns, Buhari disclosed today as he received the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Leonard, that he had taken some time to explain the situation in the country when he met with President Trump in Washington DC as the American President expressed concern with reports of attacks on segments of the society.

Sowore and Dasuki had to be released for the government to shore up its record on human rights and the rule of law to regain America’s confidence and retain the defence contract.

The Nigerian government is again facing challenges in its war with Boko Haram insurgents.

According to American defence sources, the Super Tucano is a durable and flexible aircraft designed for counter-insurgency and close air support roles. It can also be used for reconnaissance missions in low-threat environments, and for pilot training, it is capable of operating from unimproved runways.

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